While the “puto” chant was mostly made headlines in international competition–particularly with regards to FIFA’s attempts to stop it at the Confederations Cup–it’s notable that the tradition continues on unabated in domestic Mexican soccer. From Tijuana to Chiapas, the chant pops up whenever away team goalies are getting ready to kick the ball into the field of play, usually prefaced with a loud “ehhhh” build up.
As reported by El Mañana, the latest instance of the chant making itself known during a match came from a Liga MX Femenil showdown between Veracruz and Monarcas Morelia on this past week. In the sparsely attended Estadio Morelos, it is easy to make out the chant whenever Veracruz net-minder María Victor went up for a goal kick.
The chant is plainly audible due to the lower attendance at the game when compared to either Liga MX matches or international affairs, such as the sold-out Estadio Azteca for Mexico-US back in June. There too the chant was heard over the television broadcast, but where it would be impossible to distinguish who is and isn’t chanting at a match with 100,000 fans, it becomes exponentiantally easier at the less-attended Liga MX Femenil matches. The question is whether anyone cares enough to act on it, particularly with no outside FIFA/CONCACAF pressure playing a factor.
It’s especially worrying, however, that the “puto” chant–widely considered homophobic, albeit with some within Mexico disputing this by calling it a traditional and inoffensive chant–has moved to Liga MX Femenil, after an anonymous player alleged that there are anti-LGBT clauses in the league’s contracts. Summing up her comments, La Jornada pulled no punches: “To the outside world, they dress up as anti-homophobia crusaders, but internally, they don’t want lesbians and have given clear instructions to the 16 female teams to hide any case of homosexuality.”