The Mexican Football Federation (FMF) has announced that it will be handing out five-year bans to any supporters found to be taking part in anti-gay chants during international fixtures.
FMF president Yon de Luisa revealed the plans on Monday, with decisive action being taken against those that continue to tarnish the nation’s reputation.
Mexico have struggled to eradicate certain terrace chants over recent years, particularly one shouted when opposition keepers take a goal kick, leading to them being sanctioned by FIFA.
What action has been taken against Mexico?
FIFA has fined the Mexican FA on a regular basis and imposed stadium bans.
El Tri were due to play their next two World Cup qualifiers, at home against Costa Rice and Panama on January 30 and February 2 respectively, behind closed doors due to previous instances of anti-gay chanting.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has, however, lifted those sanctions and supporters will be allowed to attend fixtures at the Estadio Azteca – although the stadium capacity will be reduced to just 2,000.
The upcoming contests will be used as test events for the new measures, with domestic Liga MX teams also pushing to eradicate similar chants from club matches.
What has been said?
The FMF has revealed that a new online ticket registration system will be implemented, along with heightened stadium security and the threat of lengthy suspensions for any of those breaking the rules.
A statement from the Federation reads: “The Mexican Football Federation reiterates its position of zero tolerance for any offensive or discriminatory comments in the stadiums and appreciates the collaboration of: strategic allies, the media, Liga MX, Conapred and the fans both in Mexico and in the United States, to eradicate from discriminatory chants from our game.”
President De Luisa said: “With these measures, added to the previous efforts, which we will continue to carry out, we seek to end discriminatory acts, to stop affecting our national team and to punish the responsible people and not the majority of our fans, who already understand that the chants do nothing but affect us all.
“We cannot tolerate discriminatory acts, we cannot play in empty stadiums, we cannot put the soccer authorities at risk of taking away points or affecting our sports performance. We invite our great fans, who want to support the national team, to adopt these measures that allow us to count on their support in all the games.”
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