Sports
FIFA seeks to combat homophobia in soccer
Chile, Mexico among countries fined for anti-gay fans
‘Sport should give us pride and never should come with discrimination,’ said gay Brazilian Congressman Jean Wyllys.
(Photo by Cristina Gallo/Agência Senado; courtesy Wikimedia Commons)
Homophobia remains a serious problem in global soccer in spite of FIFA’s efforts to fight it.
Article 67 of FIFA’s Disciplinary Code states “the home association or home club is liable for improper conduct among spectators, regardless of the question of culpable conduct or culpable oversight, and, depending on the situation, may be fined.” The provision also says “the visiting association or visiting club is liable for improper conduct among its own group of spectators, regardless of the question of culpable conduct or culpable oversight, and, depending on the situation, maybe fined.”
“Improper conduct includes violence towards persons or objects, letting off incendiary devices, throwing missiles, displaying insulting or political slogans in any form, uttering insulting words or sounds, or invading the pitch,” reads Article 67.
Article 67 does not specifically include sexual orientation, but FIFA has used it to sanction countries over their fans’ anti-gay conduct.
FIFA since 2015 has fined Chile 180,000 Swiss francs ($187,149) for “homophobic chants by supporters” and “improper conduct among spectators” that included “homophobic chants” and “homophobic and insulting chants.” Three of the nine incidents that prompted FIFA to fine the South American country also resulted in banning matches at the National Stadium in Santiago.
FIFA imposed a one-game ban on official matches at the Metropolitan Olympic Stadium in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, and fined the country 40,000 Swiss francs ($41,589) after fans shouted “homophobic chants” and threw water bottles during a Nov. 11, 2016, game against Panama.
FIFA since November 2015 has fined Mexico 130,000 Swiss francs ($135,163) for “homophobic chants” among its supporters during matches against the U.S., El Salvador, Canada, Honduras, Panama and Costa Rica.
Mexican soccer fans routinely taunt an opposing team’s goalkeeper by chanting “puto,” which roughly translates as “faggot” in English.
FIFA on June 20 issued a warning to Mexico after fans used the homophobic chant during a pre-2018 World Cup match that took place in Russia. The Mexican Football Association subsequently warned its fans to stop using the chant.
“As you know, FIFA is very serious about the chanting that we do when the goalkeeper takes a kick, and the possible sanctions are serious,” it said in a statement, according to NBC News. “Our efforts on the pitch will come to nothing if, because of this (behavior), we lose the match, the game is suspended or you are expelled from the stadium.”
“We lose, you lose, everyone loses,” added the Mexican Football Association.
FIFA since 2015 has also fined Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Greece, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay for “homophobic chants by supporters” during matches.
FIFA rules specifically ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender, but the organization awarded the 2018 World Cup to Russia in spite of the country’s LGBT rights record. A FIFA spokesperson told the Washington Blade the organization has a gay-inclusive “comprehensive strategy to combat discrimination” that includes a guide on how to promote diversity and fight discrimination.
“FIFA is committed to fighting all forms of discrimination in football, including homophobia,” said the spokesperson. “The sanctions related to homophobic chants applied around the FIFA World Cup qualifiers are proof of how seriously FIFA takes this issue.”
LGBT advocacy groups in Latin America have launched campaigns that are designed to combat homophobia in soccer.
The LGBT Federation of Argentina launched a campaign ahead of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil that featured retired soccer player Sergio Govcochea and Argentine sports reporter Juan Manuel Varela. The campaign, which incorporates FIFA’s Fair Play initiative, also featured clips of fans using homophobic and racist chants to taunt players from opposing teams during games.
“We believe in the value of Fair Play that FIFA launched years ago,” then-LGBT Federation of Argentina President Esteban Paulón in a statement that launched the campaign. “It has to leave the fields and reach the fans and also strongly fight against discrimination — not only against lesbians, gays, bisexuals and trans people — in the stands.”
GLAAD, Google and YouTube also launched campaigns during the 2014 World Cup that promoted LGBT acceptance in soccer and other sports.
“Sport should give us pride and never should come with discrimination or exclusion; regardless of ethnicity, social status, gender, sexual orientation or any other type (of factor,)” said gay Brazilian Congressman Jean de Wyllys in Google’s “Play with Pride” campaign.
Chile’s National Association of Professional Soccer last October signed an agreement with the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation, an LGBT advocacy group, in which it pledged to fight homophobia and other forms of discrimination in professional soccer.
The two groups earlier this year launched a campaign to combat homophobic, racist and xenophobic chants in the country’s soccer stadiums. The Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation in a March 29 press release applauded fans for their “good and respectful behavior” during a game between Chile and Venezuela that took place the day before at Monumental Stadium in the Santiago suburb of Macul.
“We did not hear, nor were we aware of any xenophobic, homophobic or racist chants or shouts, even during the second half when the Chilean team was in a tense moment,” said the Movement for the Homosexual Integration and Liberation. “What happened yesterday was, without doubt, an advance for respect and pacifism that we hope will continue.”
Sports
Blade, Pride House LA announce 2028 Olympics partnership
Media sponsorship to amplify stories of LGBTQ athletes
The Los Angeles Blade and Washington Blade on Friday announced a media partnership with the Out Athlete Fund, which will produce Pride House LA for the 2028 Summer Olympics.
Pride House is the home for LGBTQ fans and athletes that will become a destination during the L.A. Summer Games in West Hollywood in partnership with the City of WeHo. This 17-day celebration for LGBTQ athletes and fans will include medal ceremonies for out athletes, interactive installations, speakers, concerts, and more.
The Los Angeles Blade will serve as the exclusive L.A.-area queer media sponsor for Pride House LA and the Washington Blade will support the efforts and amplify coverage of the 2028 Games.
The Blade will provide exclusive coverage of Pride House plans, including interviews with queer athletes and more. The parties will share content and social media posts raising awareness of the Blade and Out Athlete Fund. The Blade will have media credentials and VIP access for related events.
“We are excited to partner with the Washington Blade, the oldest LGBTQ newspaper in the United States and the Los Angeles Blade, already a strong supporter of Out Athlete Fund and Pride House LA/West Hollywood,” said Michael Ferrera, CEO of Pride House LA. “Our mission is about increasing the visibility of LGBTQ+ athletes and fans to challenge the historical hostility toward our community in the sports world. Visibility is what publications like the Washington and Los Angeles publications are all about. We know they will play a key part in our success.”
“LGBTQ visibility has never been more important and we are thrilled to work with Out Athlete Fund and Pride House LA to tell the stories of queer athletes and ensure the 2028 Summer Games are inclusive and affirming for everyone,” said Blade Editor Kevin Naff.
Out Athlete Fund is a 501(c)3 designed to raise money to offset the training cost of out LGBTQ athletes in need of funding for training. The Washington Blade is the nation’s oldest LGBTQ news outlet; the Los Angeles Blade is its sister publication founded nine years ago.
More than 40 openly LGBTQ athletes are expected to compete in the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics that open on Friday.
Outsports.com notes eight Americans — including speedskater Conor McDermott-Mostowy and figure skater Amber Glenn — are among the 44 openly LGBTQ athletes who will compete in the games. The LGBTQ sports website also reports Ellis Lundholm, a mogul skier from Sweden, is the first openly transgender athlete to compete in any Winter Olympics.
“I’ve always been physically capable. That was never a question,” Glenn told Outsports.com. “It was always a mental and competence problem. It was internal battles for so long: when to lean into my strengths and when to work on my weaknesses, when to finally let myself portray the way I am off the ice on the ice. That really started when I came out publicly.”
McDermott-Mostowy is among the six athletes who have benefitted from the Out Athlete Fund, a group that has paid for their Olympics-related training and travel. The other beneficiaries are freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy, speed skater Brittany Bowe, snowboarder Maddy Schaffrick, alpine skier Breezy Johnson, and Paralympic Nordic skier Jake Adicoff.
Out Athlete Fund and Pride House Los Angeles – West Hollywood on Friday will host a free watch party for the opening ceremony.
“When athletes feel seen and accepted, they’re free to focus on their performance, not on hiding who they are,” Haley Caruso, vice president of the Out Athlete Fund’s board of directors, told the Los Angeles Blade.
Four Italian LGBTQ advocacy groups — Arcigay, CIG Arcigay Milano, Milano Pride, and Pride Sport Milano — have organized the games’ Pride House that will be located at the MEET Digital Culture Center in Milan.
Pride House on its website notes it will “host a diverse calendar of events and activities curated by associations, activists, and cultural organizations that share the values of Pride” during the games. These include an opening ceremony party at which Checcoro, Milan’s first LGBTQ chorus, will perform.
ILGA World, which is partnering with Pride House, is the co-sponsor of a Feb. 21 event that will focus on LGBTQ-inclusion in sports. Valentina Petrillo, a trans Paralympian, is among those will participate in a discussion that Simone Alliva, a journalist who writes for the Italian newspaper Domani, will moderate.
“The event explores inclusivity in sport — including amateur levels — with a focus on transgender people, highlighting the role of civil society, lived experiences, and the voices of athletes,” says Milano Pride on its website.
The games will take place against the backdrop of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s decision to ban trans women from competing in women’s sporting events.
President Donald Trump last February issued an executive order that bans trans women and girls from female sports teams in the U.S. A group of Republican lawmakers in response to the directive demanded the International Olympics Committee ban trans athletes from women’s athletic competitions.
The IOC in 2021 adopted its “Framework on Fairness, Inclusion and Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity and Sex Variations” that includes the following provisions:
• 3.1 Eligibility criteria should be established and implemented fairly and in a manner that does not systematically exclude athletes from competition based upon their gender identity, physical appearance and/or sex variations.
• 3.2 Provided they meet eligibility criteria that are consistent with principle 4 (“Fairness”, athletes should be allowed to compete in the category that best aligns with their self-determined gender identity.
• 3.3 Criteria to determine disproportionate competitive advantage may, at times, require testing of an athlete’s performance and physical capacity. However, no athlete should be subject to targeted testing because of, or aimed at determining, their sex, gender identity and/or sex variations.
The 2034 Winter Olympics are scheduled to take place in Salt Lake City. The 2028 Summer Olympics will occur in Los Angeles.
Sports
‘Heated Rivalry’ stars to participate in Olympic torch relay
Games to take place next month in Italy
“Heated Rivalry” stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie will participate in the Olympic torch relay ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics that will take place next month in Italy.
HBO Max, which distributes “Heated Rivalry” in the U.S., made the announcement on Thursday in a press release.
The games will take place in Milan and Cortina from Feb. 6-22. The HBO Max announcement did not specifically say when Williams and Storrie will participate in the torch relay.
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