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FIFA Sanctions Five Soccer Federations Regarding Anti-Homosexual Chants from Fans

FIFA and the FARE network draw a line in the sand

Behold, the FIFA disciplinary machine in high gear. After recommending a nine-year suspension for former FIFA General Secretary Jérôme Valcke and then going, nah, fuck it, let's just fire his ass, FIFA also announced today that it would be sanctioning several soccer associations (Argentina, Chile, Honduras, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay) for "discriminatory chants by fans."

The sanctions as a result of the organization's new "Anti-Discrimination Monitoring System" which it put in place for 2018 World Cup qualifying. The System is a partnership between FIFA and the FARE Network, a non-profit organization that fights discrimination in world soccer. FIFA sends FARE observers to "high risk" matches around the world, and fines are then levied based on the observers' findings. (In 2014, I interviewed the FARE president for a VICE story.)

From the FIFA press release:

"Argentina, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay have each been fined CHF 20,000 for individual cases while Chile has been fined a total of CHF 70,000 for four cases, which occurred at different matches but relate to similar instances of unsporting conduct by supporters. All of the proceedings relate to homophobic chants by the respective team's fans, with the FIFA Disciplinary Committee finding the associations to have violated article 67 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (FDC)."

How effective sanctions will be remains an open question. One could argue that CHF 20,000 (approximately $19,500 U.S. dollars) is a mere slap on the wrist. It's a problem FIFA seems to recognize:

"But disciplinary proceedings alone cannot change behaviour by certain groups of fans that unfortunately goes against the core values of our game," Claudio Sulser, chairman of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee, was quoted as saying in the press release. "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."