World Cup co-hosts Mexico lose appeal against Fifa fines for anti-gay chant by fans
Mexico’s football federation has lost its latest appeal against Fifa punishments for an anti-gay chant by fans, just days before the World Cup opens in Mexico City.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) upheld fines totalling 140,000 Swiss francs ($178,000) but lifted a partial stadium closure sanction.
This ruling, part of a decade-long series of disputes between Mexico and Fifa, comes ahead of the men’s national team hosting South Africa on 11 June at the iconic Azteca Stadium, a venue where the offensive chant is frequently heard.
The one-word slur, meaning “male prostitute” in Spanish, is typically directed at opposing goalkeepers during goal kicks. It gained notoriety at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and reappeared in Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022, despite the federation’s educational campaigns and pleas to control the abuse.
The Cas case followed Fifa prosecutions for incidents at 2024 matches against Bolivia, Uruguay, Brazil, and the United States. Anti-discrimination monitors, who will also work for FIFA at the 104 World Cup games across Mexico, the US, and Canada, detected the chant during these fixtures.
Cas judges, following a March hearing in Miami, acknowledged the Mexican federation’s mitigation efforts since 2015 to “educate, prevent and eradicate the chant.”
However, they noted that “the conduct of the fans was collective and widespread, and not merely a one-off occurrence,” according to a Cas statement. While recognising the “unique nature” of the challenge facing Mexican football officials, the court concluded the federation could not escape liability.
Mexico is also set to host World Cup group-stage matches against South Korea in Guadalajara and the Czech Republic at Azteca.
Mexico have never previously progressed beyond the quarter-finals at the World Cup. They reached this stage in 1970 and 1986, but failed to go any further.
During a stretch of seven consecutive World Cups between 1994 and 2018, Mexico exited at the round of 16 stage, while they failed to even make it past the groups four years ago.
They managed just one victory in their three group matches in Qatar, and were beaten by eventual champions Argentina.
