Mexican players launch campaign against homophobia

Mexico's national team has launched a campaign to discourage fans from shouting homophobic slurs during football matches.

Some of the players who faced Canada in a World Cup tie on Tuesday, including Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez, former Barcelona defender Rafael Marquez and PSV Eindhoven's Hector Moreno, read out a manifesto against abuse under the title "Embraced by Football."

"To us, differences are no obstacle. To us, we don't discriminate. To us, we respect everyone's opinion,” the players said in a YouTube and social media campaign.

FIFA's Disciplinary Committee ruled two years ago that there would be no punishment for Mexico's FA after Mexican fans chanted the word "puto" -- or "faggot" in Spanish -- at opposition goalkeepers during the 2014 World Cup.

However, FIFA took a stronger stand this year and Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Peru and Uruguay, were fined by the governing body for homophobic chanting by fans during World Cup qualifiers. 

Image: Mexico footballer Javier Hernandez

Photograph: Ina Fassbender/Reuters