US Soccer board votes to ban discriminatory chants

ATLANTA (AP) - The U.S. Soccer Federation's board of directors adopted a resolution Friday to ban discriminatory chants at all soccer matches sanctioned by the American soccer governing body.

The resolution says the federation should adopt a zero-tolerance policy on discriminatory chants and adopt FIFA's three-step protocol, which calls for the match to be stopped and fans warned, the match to be suspended and players moved to the locker rooms, and the match to be abandoned.

The resolution will be forwarded to the federation's rules committee, which will then send a policy back to the board for consideration.

The National Center for Lesbian Rights hailed the decision.

'œWhile to many, it may seem like crowd chants at soccer matches may just be sophomoric attempts to distract the players on an opposing team, as a queer, Latino soccer fan, these discriminatory chants cut much deeper,'ť NCLR spokesman Christopher Vasquez said. 'œFor LGBTQ Latinos, these chants - almost always using a highly-derogatory Spanish slur - create an atmosphere of hostility, recalling long-lasting memories of fear and rejection. We applaud U.S. Soccer for passing a ban on these homophobic chants."

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