Mexico's homophobic chant at San Diego FC soccer game on Saturday March 1st [View all]
San Diego Football Club (San Diego FC)
Mexico’s homophobic chant started as an unfunny joke. Now it’s a stubborn problem
Jon Arnold
(The chant Translated from Spanish, “puto” means male prostitute).
An anti-gay slur’s at San Diego FC’s home debut prompted a strong response from the club. They’re not the first ones forced to address a tired trope.
“Look, we can’t have racism, we can’t have discriminatory words in our sport, at our club, in our community. It’s unacceptable,” he said. “It doesn’t represent me, the players or the club and doesn’t reflect San Diego as a community. This is a diverse community that is full of love. We can’t go and say things like we did in this game … This was people in the general seats, not everyone, but a group we heard and I want to say that if they’re going to keep doing that it’s better that they don’t come to matches. Those aren’t the values we have.”
San Diego sporting director Tyler Heaps echoed that sentiment. Clips of Heaps’ and Varas’s statements were posted on the club’s social media accounts next to celebratory posts about the team’s successful start to life in MLS. The team continued its push Monday, releasing a statement from club ownership saying they “will take immediate steps to address this behavior and will communicate a detailed plan prior to the next home match.”
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/mar/06/mexico-san-diego-homophobic-chant-soccer
https://www.denverpost.com/2016/06/11/soccers-puto-chant-and-a-clash-of-cultures/
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