Anti-gay slurs ‘still clearly audible’ during Mexico World Cup match
Anti-gay slurs could be heard during Mexico’s World Cup match against Croatia, despite broadcasters pledging to mute the crowd audio.
Mexico coach Miguel Herrera had previously defended the use of anti-gay slur ‘puto’ (‘male prostitute/faggot’) by his team’s fans in their match against Cameroon, claiming “it’s not that bad.”
Although broadcasters had pledged to minimise the slur as much as possible from footage, it was once again clearly audible during the team’s match against Croatia on Monday.
Andres Aradillas-Lopez told Outsports: “The fans in the stadium have extended it beyond goal kicks to include now corner kicks and free kicks.
“Essentially every time the play stops and Croatia kicks the ball, they cheer it. This is way beyond the point of whether it is used as a gay slur or not in this particular instance.
“Why is it OK to broadcast the word ‘faggot’ on TV? This is exactly what is happening here: A term with multiple connotations, ranging from “weak” to an outright gay slur is being yelled on TV. Is this OK because FIFA (the benchmark of morality) says it is OK?”
An ESPN spokesperson said: “One of our lead producers indicated that we did our best to mute the audio of the chant during the Mexico match today but are at the limit of our ability as the chant comes through the commentator microphones.”
Mexico will next play the Netherlands on Sunday.
