Jesus Gallardo of Monterrey celebrates after his victory during the Final second leg match between America and Monterrey (Cesar Gomez/Jam Media/Getty Images)
A Mexico footballer has been handed a two-match ban for shouting a homophobic slur during a match.
Left-back Jesús Gallardo, who plays for Liga MX club Monterrey as well as the Mexico national team, had used the slur during a Monterrey match against Club America last month – while celebrating scoring a goal on penalties.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Mexican Football Federation’s disciplinary committee confirmed that Gallardo had violated conduct rules with the “inappropriate celebration.”
Jesús Gallardo handed two-match ban over anti-gay slur
The body made clear that he would be served with “a two-match suspension plus an economic fine” for violating the code of conduct.
According to ESPN, Gallardo tweeted “ni modo” – translated as “whatever” – shortly after the decision was announced.
He has since deleted the message.
The player also appears to have liked a number of messages on Twitter referencing the ruling.
Mexico has finally clamped down on homophobia after ‘years of inaction’
Mexico has been fined no less than eight times over fans’ homophobic chanting during international matches, with the country’s football authorities accused of failing to take action on the issue.
However, football bosses finally moved to clamp down on anti-gay slurs in the past year – being driven to act by the threat of exclusion from the 2022 World Cup.
In September, the Mexican Football Federation gave referees the power to call a halt to matches over homophobic chants from fans, and warned that clubs may be forced to play matches behind closed doors if the behaviour continues.
Mexico striker Javier Hernandez has also urged the team’s fans to stop chanting at further matches, after FIFA threatened further action if the issue continues.
He said: “To all Mexican fans in the stadiums, don’t shout ‘pu–‘. Let’s not risk another sanction.”
Most of the fines relate to the use of the homophobic chant “puto” – an anti-gay epithet equivalent to “faggot” or “male prostitute.”
The “puto” ban has ignited controversy, as some footballers have attempted to argue that the word is not intended to be a homophobic chant – but Mexican LGBT groups insist that it constitutes anti-gay hate speech.