Mexico gets two match ban and fine for infamous chant

FIFA has announced that Mexico will be sanctioned with another hefty fine, and this time with a two match ban for fans because of the infamous chant done during the Olympic qualifying tournament. It’s not yet clear on which competition will Mexico have to not have fans, either the Gold Cup or World Cup qualifiers, but all signs point to it being in the latter, especially with the Gold Cup being played on a neutral stage instead of the World Cup qualifiers. If so, this means that their home matches against Jamaica and Canada will have to be played without fans. There is also warning that Mexico might get disqualified for the 2022 World Cup or lose hosting rights for the 2026 World Cup if the chant continues.

FIFA has made it clear that they declared the infamous chant as a homophobic slur, and that there will be punishments. Thus far however it has only been fines to the federation. This will be the first time that fans are banned because of the chant, something that has been rumored but since it never happened, as fans thought it was all bluffing. In the first matches after rumors, the chant was even louder as was during the Mexico vs. Canada World Cup qualifier in 2016, the first match after the Mexican federation started their campaign against the chant. FIFA has decided to stop matches with a possible suspension, and the recent friendlies against Iceland as well as the Nations League final were stopped because of it. FIFA has announced that they started an investigation on those matches. Since the games were played in the US, this might mean that there could be a possible ban for the Gold Cup besides the two match ban. The recent findings are clear that FIFA is not going to back down, and that the Mexican federation will have to work even more or Mexico’s national team is going to suffer the consequences as well as their fans.