January 14 – Evidence that South America is still some way behind when it comes to discrimination has been underlined by FIFA fining Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay for homophobic chanting by their national teams’ fans.
The “insulting and discriminatory chants” came during qualifying matches for the 2018 World Cup, FIFA said.
Chile’s fine is the biggest at SFr70,000 (£48,600) covering four different matches. The governing body imposed fines of SFr20,000 (£27,750) on the other four while proceedings continue against Honduras for what FIFA described as “apparent homophobic chants by its supporters.”
Whether the fines will make any difference, however, is highly questionable. FIFA for several years has insisted financial sanctions alone were not enough.
Claudio Sulser, chair of FIFA’s disciplinary committee, nevertheless said behaviour by certain groups of fans “goes against the core values of our game.”
“FIFA and the entire football community have to be proactive in educating and inspiring a message of equality and respect across all levels of the game.”
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