Mexico risks punishment at the World Cup.
the reason? Homophobic chants in the stands.
FIFA announced the launch of an investigation.
In recent days, the headlines from the World Cup in Qatar have been about FIFA’s ban on rainbow colors and “One Love” bracelets.
FIFA has been strongly criticized by players and national federations who believe it should be explicitly considerate of human rights and LGBTQ+, despite the fact that homosexuality is illegal in Qatar.
But FIFA stood firm.
FIFA is now choosing – ironically, it seems – to launch an investigation against Mexico in connection with homophobic chants in the stands.
Paragraph 13
During Tuesday’s match against Poland, the song “el que no brinque es un puta maricón” (“The one who doesn’t jump is gay”) is said to have been sung in a section of the stands where the majority of Mexican fans were.
It is currently unclear whether, and if so, how Mexico will be sanctioned, but El Universal newspaper states that FIFA is leaning against Article 13 of the Statutes, which deals with discrimination.
In that paragraph, there are fines, points deduction and even exclusion from the tournament as options.
It happened in Sweden last week
This is not the first time Mexican fans have sung this type of chant. It happened as recently as last week, during the international training match against Sweden in Malmö. The announcer was then forced to come out with a warning to call off the match if the cheering did not stop.
Mexico will meet Argentina in their second group match on Saturday.
FIFA World Cup matches Thursday, November 24:
11.00 Switzerland and Cameroon 14.00 Uruguay and South Korea 17.00 Portugal and Ghana 20.00 Brazil and Serbia