GUADALAJARA, México – Guadalajara is the capital of the Mexican state that is home to tequila and Mariachi music. It is also considered the birthplace of the most unflattering culture – the homophobic football chant that has cost Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines over the past two decades.
It’s no guess that the song, one word that literally translates to male prostitute in Spanish, will be heard by the Guadalajara crowd at Akron Stadium when Mexico hosts the United States in a friendly on Tuesday.
Numerous sanctions from FIFA and campaigns by Mexican soccer officials to educate fans could not stop it. The song continues in national and team soccer in Mexico, not least in games between the two North American rivals who will host the 2026 World Cup and Canada.
When the US team last played Mexico in the CONCACAF Nations League final in Texas in March, the referee stopped the game twice because of gay chants by Mexican fans. Last year, a match in Las Vegas between the two sides was called off for the same reason.
In Guadalajara, a city with a strong soccer culture that has two teams in Mexico’s top soccer league and two in the second division, many local fans told The Associated Press they viewed the song as harmless and intended to poke fun at the controversy. groups.
“Football is still a party, and the song is just for entertainment. “People who shout don’t mean they don’t offend the opponent,” said Luis Gallardo, 38 years old, who was wearing the black away shirt of the Mexican national team. “It’s been going on for years and I don’t think it’s going to change.”
The insult, often used when an opposing goalkeeper kicks a goal, is not the only offensive chant heard in soccer stadiums around the world, but its persistent use at international tournaments has become a costly embarrassment for Mexico’s soccer federation.
The federation has been fined several times by FIFA for “discriminatory behaviour” by supporters, including 100,000 Swiss francs ($114,000) for two incidents during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Mexico has passed those sanctions.
The Mexican soccer confederation has long argued that the song was not aimed at gays and that the term has different connotations in modern Mexican culture. However, in recent years, the organization has launched campaigns to end it, broadcasters urging crowds to stop playing racist songs and asking for the help of football stars and other celebrities to convey the message.
The federation in 2022 threatened fans shouting riots at matches with a five-year stadium ban. At that time, the former president of the union, Yon de Luisa, said that whatever the intentions of those who use insults, what is important is how they are received by others.
“If it’s racism, we should avoid it,” said De Luisa, who resigned after Mexico’s poor performance in Qatar, where the team was eliminated from the group stage.
The origin of this song is unclear, but it can be traced back to the 2004 Olympic qualifier between Mexico and the US in Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco state. It then spread to stadiums across Mexico with fans of Guadalajara’s Atlas soccer club.
Francisco Acuña, a fan of Atlas, 55, said that this song is a way for fans to express their feelings during the game and should not be taken too seriously.
“People who know football know that the game is intense and even the players are hot on the field and hug each other at the end of the game,” he said.
Alejandro Oliva, a 40-year-old soccer fan from the city of Guadalajara, said he doesn’t understand why some people find the song offensive.
“I am surprised that outside of Mexico people believe that it is a homophobic song. In Mexico it is normal and nobody gets angry,” he said. “I think even people in the gay community use this word, and they don’t abuse it.”
Not all people see it that way.
“It’s clear that it’s anti-gay because you degrade someone with a sexual slur and a bad name,” said Andoni Bello, an LGBTQ+ activist who strongly criticized the song played by Mexico in the soccer tournament organized by the International Gay and Lesbian Football Association. .
He said Mexico must make a noise about the 2026 World Cup when the eyes of the world are on the country. Mexico will host 13 World Cup matches, including four in Guadalajara.
Bello urged the organizers of the tournament to reach out to the LGBTQ+ community for help in dealing with the problem.
“It’s not just taking pictures of them saying they are against discrimination against gays in the arenas,” he said. “There is a real opportunity to educate the Mexican fan. In the World Cup in ’86 we became famous all over the world because of the ‘Mexican wave.’ We have sent a good celebration to foreign countries, let’s hope that we will get rid of this song because being known for homophobia is very painful.”