FIFA cited 51 instances of anti-gay chants, fined 16 countries

With Mexico and Chile leading the way, the fines aren’t stopping any homophobia so far.

By Cyd Zeigler@CydZeigler Oct 5, 2017, 11:37pm PDT

FIFA has unleashed 51 fines against 16 countries for homophobic actions by fans at 2018 World Cup qualifying matches. Each violation includes a warning or a reprimand. Of course, the anti-gay violations persists.

The countries receiving the sanctions include (with number of violations):

Of particular note is the Mexico soccer team, which was cited 11 times for violations. Eleven times. Clearly fines and public-relations campaigns are not working as the anti-gay chants have even crept into other sports and leagues like the NFL.

This again demonstrates that, as we at Outsports have said over and over and over, these fines won’t do anything to stop anti-gay chants. If FIFA is serious about stopping these chants, the organization will force countries with poorly behaved fans to play matches in front of empty stadiums, even if that is at the World Cup.

The choice is that of FIFA.

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