Mexican Fans Chanted A Homophobic Slur During Monday Night Football

FTW- The Raiders practically played a home game Monday night at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, but a homophobic soccer chant still made a clear appearance during kickoffs.

The “puto” chant has been a consistent source of controversy for the Mexico national soccer team and its supporters. The chant, which is a homophobic slur, is shouted at the opposing goalkeeper during goal kicks.

When the Texans kicked off on Monday after a field goal, the chant was picked up by the ESPN broadcast.

In October, FIFA fined the Mexican football federation $30,600 for the supporters’ use of the chant. According to ESPN, it was the fifth time in 11 months that FIFA had penalized the federation for the offense.

According to an ESPN spokesperson, ESPN had not made any specific audio adjustments that would ensure the chant couldn’t be heard on TV. But it is something the network will continue to discuss as a production team going forward. The NFL was also aware of the issue on Monday.



Hey, isn't the whole point of these out-of-country games to familiarize ourselves with other cultures. Well, that and exploiting them financially by taking advantage of the fact that they don't realize the NFL's product is largely overpriced garbage. Fine, it's mostly the latter. Whatever, still interesting to learn that South America is so against the gay that they show up in droves and collectively chant homophobic slurs at  - well - no one in particular. Technically it was directed at the Texans which, all things considered, is pretty goddamn ironic, but it's not like there's any legitimate reason to go the sexuality route when no one on the field openly identifies with the sexuality being mocked. So personally - as a heterosexual white male - I am more confused than outraged.

Definitely seems strange to rally around the use of a word whose equivalent would be shunned in the United States, but who am I to question another country's sports traditions? What was ESPN supposed to do, mute the entire fucking crowd? I hate on the NFL for a lot of things, but  - with the amount of Tecate consumed by those in attendance - trying to drowned out tens of thousands Mexican Raiders fans during a night game was simply a fruitless task. 

Plus, what's the harm? A couple homosexuals realize they would feel super uncomfortable at a soccer game South of the border? I would think that utterly distasteful chant could serve as fair warning to the type of people that weren't given one when they showed up to Trump rallies feeling like they were in some archaic foreign land. I guess ESPN could have aired complete silence during the kickoff, but the NFL captures enough unenthused spectators during their London broadcasts. Have to make it look like someone outside the 50 states cares about their product. I'd say letting the viewing audience know that the fans were actually invested in the game is more important than censoring a word that most didn't even know was offensive until we were told after the fact.