FIFA impose stadium bans, fines for homophobic chants

FIFA on Friday handed out fines to the football associations of Chile, Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Paraguay and Peru for homophobic chants by supporters during qualifying matches for the 2018 World Cup.

Chile were banned from playing at the Estadio Nacional in Santiago for two official matches and fined 30,000 Swiss Francs ($30,000, 27,000 euros).

The first match-ban will be served at the next World Cup qualifier against Bolivia, with the second suspended subject to a two-year probation period.

“The proceedings relate to homophobic chants by the team’s fans and follow previous sanctions for similar incidents during the preliminary competition of the 2018 FIFA World Cup,” FIFA said in a statement.

Mexico were fined a total of 35,000 Swiss Francs for two cases, while Honduras were fined 40,000, El Salvador 35,000, Paraguay 20,000 and Peru 15,000 for individual cases related to incidents involving discriminatory and unsporting conduct by fans, including homophobic chants.

Croatia were also ordered to play their next two World Cup qualifiers –- against Turkey on September 5 and Iceland on November 12 -– without spectators and fined a total of 150,000 Swiss Francs for two cases of discriminatory chants by fans, which occurred at friendly matches against Israel and Hungary last March.