[Saba Sports News] According to British media reports, FIFA has ruled that Mexican football fans may face penalties for using homophobic abusive chants targeting opposing teams during World Cup matches. Just days ahead of World Cup fixtures in Mexico City, the Mexican Football Federation had its latest appeal against FIFA’s sanctions over these controversial chants rejected this Tuesday. The latest ruling from the Court of Arbitration for Sport comes amid more than a decade of successive appeals between Mexico and FIFA. Mexico’s men’s national football team is set to take on South Africa at the iconic Azteca Stadium on June 12, a venue where such chants have frequently echoed. The offensive chant centers on the Spanish slur “puto”, which literally translates to male prostitute in Spanish and is routinely yelled when opposing goalkeepers prepare to take goal kicks.
The editor believes that the offensive chant gained widespread popularity at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil and resurfaced at the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Despite requests and educational campaigns launched by the Mexican Football Federation to curb such abusive conduct, Mexican supporters have continued the practice unabated.