MEXICO CITY (AP) — Opening day is less than a month away. 2026 world cupthe Mexican Football Federation announced Thursday a new advertising campaign aimed at discouraging fans from using chants deemed homophobic during tournaments.
chant, that’s Undesirable features The game has been attended by Mexico and its passionate fans for 20 years. resurfaced strongly This has happened over the past few weeks, including the Liga MX playoff game just last weekend.
The advertising campaign launched by the Mexican federation is called “The Wave Yes, The Chant No” and features former Mexican players from the 1986 World Cup.
Mexican Wave dates back to 1986
The creation of the Wave, a coordinated movement of fans within a stadium, is credited to George “Crazy” Henderson, an American fan who began coordinating it at the Oakland Coliseum in 1981, but it became globally popular during the 1986 Mexico World Cup and became known as the “Mexican Wave.”
“This campaign aims to raise awareness among fans about the importance of supporting the Mexican national team in waves and not the discriminatory chants sanctioned by FIFA,” the federation said in a statement.
Mexico will play South Africa in the opening game on June 11, becoming the first country to host the World Cup three times. The country was the host country in 1970 and 1986, but this year’s hosting duties will be shared between the United States and Canada.
“It was at the World Cup 40 years ago that The Wave was immortalized. This movement of unity remains in the stadium today as one of international football’s most important and symbolic legacies.”
It’s another attempt by Mexican soccer officials to end the chant, which has been sanctioned more than a dozen times by FIFA, and has also drawn criticism from LGBT+ groups who say the federation has done nothing to prevent training in Mexican stadiums.
Appeal to CAS
Mexico is currently appealing FIFA punishment for 2024 matches Litigation against the United States pending in the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The chant is a one-word slur in Spanish that literally means man whore, and is usually used when an opposing goalkeeper is involved in a goal kick. It became a hot topic in 2014 brazil world cup It was heard in Russia during the 2018 World Cup, and again four years later in Qatar.
According to the federation, the advertising campaign will be divided into several stages, the first from May 21 to 31 and the second from June 1 to 30, in which Hugo Sánchez, considered the best player in Mexico’s history, Manuel Negrete, and current national team coach Javier Aguirre will ask fans not to chant.
The advertising campaign will be featured on stadium video screens and on social media during Mexico’s three pre-World Cup friendlies, starting next Friday against Ghana in Puebla.
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