A referee abruptly halted the United States men's soccer team's match against Mexico on Thursday night due to the continuous and offensive homophobic chants emanating from the crowd at the sold-out game at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
The match was interrupted around the 90th minute due to anti-gay chants that have been routinely used by Mexican fans at international and national games, despite efforts by soccer authorities to stamp them out.
Despite efforts to resume the game, the offensive chants persisted, and as a result, referee Iván Barton made the difficult decision to conclude the match prematurely in the 98th minute. Additionally, multiple fights broke out in the crowd during and after the match.
"Concacaf strongly condemns the discriminatory chanting by some fans during the CNL Semifinal match between Mexico and the United States," CONCACAF, the Confederation of North, Central America, and Caribbean Association Football,said in a statement. "Chants heard during the game led to the activation of the anti-discrimination protocol by the match officials. Additionally, security staff ejected several fans for engaging in unacceptable behavior in the stadium."
FIFA had previously acted against this behavior, penalizing Mexico with a fine of 100,000 Swiss francs ($108,000) in January following instances of anti-gay chants by fans during two separate games.
The game ended with a3-0 U.S. win over Mexico, and now the U.S. will play Canada in the tournament final on Sunday.
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