Mexicans really love sticking it to the man, specially when it comes to football (or soccer if you’re from the Midwest). Despite all the campaigns to eradicate the ‘puto’ chant that fans scream when the opposite team’s goalkeeper clears the ball, and all the fines that the Mexican Federation of Football (FMF) has had to pay over the years, fans are still not ready to give away on their tradition.
Last Tuesday, the world’s governing soccer body, FIFA, fined the FMF with another $10,000 for the chant’s appearance during a CONCACAF World Cup Qualifier game between Mexico and Panama on September 1st, in the historical Estadio Azteca.
Since the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying games started in November 2015, Gianni Infantino’s FIFA has fined the FMF 10 times in only 14 matches, costing the federation over $145,000. But just like when Donald Trump is trying to get Mexico to pay for his wall, the federation is not planning to pay FIFA anytime soon, actually the complete opposite of this, the FMF not only will it not pay but is taking FIFA to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, to appeal these fines. $145,000 doesn’t seem like a lot of money for corporate sports, specially with the exorbitant transfer fees in the hundreds of millions of dollars that are currently becoming the norm, so why would the FMF go through all this trouble to defend such a silly chant?
FIFA has a long history of targeting Mexicans, mainly because of disciplinary reasons, now they have the FMF on the cross-hairs over this chant, which they [FIFA] claim is homophobic (spoiler alert, it is). ‘Puto‘ advocates however, say that the chant is not meant to homophobic, just offensive and intimidating, and that mainstream media has a wrong idea of the chant and the general use of the word ‘puto‘. For FIFA and most media outlets out of touch with Mexico’s colloquialisms, the chant is plainly homophobic, for the fans, its nothing but an innocent taunt on the opposing team’s goalkeeper.
Now let’s talk about FIFA’s concern of LGBT rights, if the United Nations of Soccer actually cared about LGBT people, then why would they grant Russia and Qatar the honor to host a World Cup in 2018 and 2022 respectively? Last time we checked, Russia is one of the worst places on earth to be queer in, it hasn’t even been 25 years since homosexuality was decriminalized in the Siberian country, and they are still not eligible for the same legal protections that the hetero-normative people enjoy. Less than 20 years ago, homosexuality was still considered an mental illness in Russia, but Mexicans are the devil incarnated because they chant ‘puto‘ at goalkeepers, right? Should we even get started with all the crimes against homosexuals in Qatar? We didn’t think so.
Historically Mexico has been one of the most LGBT friendly places in the world, sexual diversity tolerance is widespread in various indigenous cultures and homosexuality has not been considered a crime since 1871, not bad for one of the most Catholic countries in the world. Same-sex marriage was legalized in Mexico before the United States, and still FIFA has the nerve to fine them and set them aside on their World Cup bids for 2026, favoring the United States where we have currently elected a president that favors very questionable conservative views on sex diversity.
Regardless, the fines have done next-to-nothing to stop the chants, and it seems that FMF has sided with the fans rights to express themselves in whatever way they see fit, so this story still has a long road to thread.