2023-06-24 10:23:59
The CONCACAF Football Confederation (North, Central America and the Caribbean) suspended the Americans, Stone McKinney, Sergenio Dest, and the Mexicans Cesar Montes and Gerardo Arteaga on Friday, in the wake of a stormy match between the two countries in the semi-finals of the CONCACAF Nations League.
The United States beat Mexico 3-0 last week in Las Vegas, in a match that each side ended with nine players, as a result of the expulsion of McKinney, Dest, Montes and Arteaga, and saw packages and drinks thrown on the green rectangle by mostly pro-Mexico fans.
And the referee raised the red card in the face of Montes following a violent kick on Folarin Balogun, while McKinney was sent off for his role in the subsequent fight, before Arteaga and Dest followed in their footsteps.
The CONCACAF Confederation said that it suspended McKinney and Montes for three matches in addition to the automatic match resulting from the expulsion, while Dest and Arteaga were subjected to a penalty of stopping two additional matches.
The US squad for the Gold Cup, which starts on Saturday, does not include the names of Dest and McKinney, unlike Montes and Arteaga in Mexico.
The Confederation added that the two teams were subjected to an unspecified financial fine, but it did not mention the anti-gay chants by the Mexican fans, which prompted Salvadoran referee Evan Barton to stop the match in its final minutes.
Fans shouted homophobic slurs when US goalkeeper Matt Turner kicked the ball, and the game was briefly halted as warnings were issued to the fans.
These chants have long been a problem for the Mexican Football Federation, which has been fined on several occasions and has urged its fans to stop the practice.
The chants led to the activation of the anti-discrimination protocol by the match officials. In addition, security personnel expelled several fans for engaging in unacceptable behavior in the stadium.
The total fines imposed on Mexico in recent years amount to $650,000, and they were forced to play without their fans once morest Jamaica in September 2021.
The Mexican Federation adopted an online registration system to obtain tickets and a square code or QR code for viewers of its home matches, in an attempt to identify and punish any violators and deter them from issuing offensive chants.
Mexico is co-hosting the 2026 World Cup with the United States and Canada, and former Confederation President Yon de Luisa warned of the dangers of losing hosting rights because of the chants.
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