Mexico is struggling to stamp out homophobic soccer chants ahead of the World Cup

GUADALAJARA, Mexico (AP) — Guadalajara is the capital of a Mexican state that is home to tequila and mariachi music. It is also considered the birthplace of a less flattering tradition – a homophobic soccer chant that has cost Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines over the past two decades.

It was no surprise that the chant, a one-word insult that literally means “male prostitute” in Spanish, was heard from the crowd at Akron Stadium in Guadalajara on Tuesday during a friendly match between Mexico and the United States.

Although messages and banners on the screen urged fans to stop chanting and instead chant “Mexico,” the crowd shouted the insult at U.S. goalkeeper Matt Turner within a minute of kickoff.

Multiple sanctions from FIFA and campaigns by Mexican soccer officials to educate fans have failed to eliminate the problem. The chant persists in both club and national team football in Mexico, not least in games between the two North American rivals, who will co-host the 2026 World Cup with Canada.

When the U.S. men’s team played Mexico in the CONCACAF Nations League final in Texas in March, the referee stopped the game twice due to homophobic chants from Mexican fans. Last year, a game between the two teams in Las Vegas was canceled for the same reason.

On Tuesday, the referee didn’t stop the game, but organizers tried at one point to drown out the singing by playing “Cielito Lindo,” a popular folk song, over the stadium speakers. Mexico won the game 2-0.

In Guadalajara, a city with a strong soccer tradition that has two teams in Mexico’s top soccer league and two more in the second division, many local fans told The Associated Press that they thought the chant was harmless and intended only to to make fun of the opposing teams.

“Football is still a party and the singing is just for fun. “People shouting that doesn’t mean an insult to the rival,” said Luis Gallardo, a 38-year-old wearing the black away jersey of the Mexican national team. “It’s been going on for years and I don’t think anything will change.”

While the insult, typically used when the opposing goalkeeper takes a goal kick, is not the only insulting chant heard in soccer stadiums around the world, its continued use in international tournaments has become costly for the Mexican soccer federation become embarrassment.

The association has been fined countless times by FIFA for “discriminatory behavior” by fans, including 100,000 Swiss francs ($114,000) for two incidents during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Mexico has appealed these penalties.

The Mexican Football Association has long argued that the chant was not aimed at gays and that the word has a different connotation in contemporary Mexican culture. However, in recent years the association has launched campaigns to prevent this. Stadium announcers urged the audience to refrain from discriminatory chants and enlisted the help of soccer stars and other celebrities to spread the message.

In 2022, the association threatened fans who shout the insults at games with five-year stadium bans. At the time, then federation president Yon de Luisa said that regardless of the intention of those who use the insult, what matters is how it is received by others.

“If it is discriminatory, we should avoid it,” said De Luisa, who later resigned after Mexico’s poor performance in Qatar, where the team was eliminated in the group stage.

The origin of the song is somewhat unclear, but it can be traced back to a 2004 Olympic qualifying match between Mexico and the United States in Guadalajara, the capital of the state of Jalisco. It then spread to stadiums across Mexico with fans of Guadalajara soccer club Atlas.

Francisco Acuña, a 55-year-old Atlas fan, said the chant was a way for fans to express their emotions during the game and should not be taken too seriously.

“The people who know football know that the game is intense and even players get hot-headed on the field and hug each other at the end of the game,” he said.

Alejandro Oliva, a 40-year-old soccer fan from downtown Guadalajara, said he doesn’t understand why some people find the chant offensive.

“I’m surprised that people outside of Mexico think it’s a homophobic song. In Mexico it is normal and does not offend anyone,” he said. “I think even people in the gay community use the word and don’t get offended by it.”

Not everyone sees it that way.

“It is clearly homophobic because you humiliate a person with an insult of sexual and negative connotation,” said Andoni Bello, an LGBTQ+ activist and outspoken critic of chanting who played for Mexico in amateur soccer tournaments organized by the International Gay and Lesbian Association Football Association were organized.

He said Mexico must refrain from this chant until the 2026 World Cup, when the eyes of the world will be on the country. Mexico is scheduled to host 13 World Cup games, including four in Guadalajara.

Bello urged tournament organizers to reach out to the LGBTQ+ community and ask for help in addressing the issue.

“It’s not just about taking pictures of them and saying they’re against homophobia in the stadiums,” he said. “There is a real opportunity to educate the Mexican fan. At the 1986 World Cup we were world famous thanks to the “Mexican wave”. We had a great celebration. Let’s hope we can eradicate the saying because it is very sad to be known for homophobia.”

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