Soccer match halted as fans hurl homophobic chants at American player

Mexican soccer fans have shown once again what it’s like to be sore losers by causing another game to halt for lashing out with a trademark and homophobic chant as they neared defeat, this time against the United States men’s national soccer team No. 1 Matt Turner.

With the U.S. leading 2-0 in the final minutes of a match on Sunday in Arlington, TX, goalkeeper Turner was the object of the derisive chant as he ran forward for goal kicks. Typically, and in this instance, fans start with a rising yell, “Ehhhhh…!” as a player approaches the ball, and then punctuate it with “P**o!” on the kick.

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A loose translation of “p**o” is “f**got” in English. FIFA has banned the chant at sanctioned games.

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After numerous calls over the public address system at AT&T Stadium failed to reign in the screaming fans, referee Drew Fischer halted the game for nearly five minutes.

Thousands of Mexico fans in the crowd of nearly 60,000 took that as a cue to leave, but as soon as play resumed, the chanting continued, and Fischer was forced to halt the game again.

FIFA governing body CONCACAF, the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, expressed its displeasure with Mexico fans for interrupting yet another major match.

A statement read that CONCACAF “strongly condemns the discriminatory chanting by some fans,” which “has no place in our sport.”

The same match-up was interrupted last year when Mexico met the U.S. in the Nations League semi-finals at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. That game ground to a halt in the eighth minute of stoppage time, with the U.S. leading 3-0.

In 2021, FIFA sanctioned Mexico by banning fans from two World Cup qualifying home games because of ongoing use of the anti-gay chant, while the Mexican Football Federation is challenging penalties totaling $114,000 imposed by the governing body for incidents at two games at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Mexico will co-host the 2026 World Cup with the United States and Canada. 

Turner, 29, is married to former New England Patriots cheerleader Ashley Herron and plays in the Premier League for Nottingham Forest in the UK, in addition to his spot on the U.S. men’s national team.