Mexican Soccer Coach Fined, Suspended For Use of Anti-Gay Slur

A soccer coach in Mexico was suspended for three games after he opened a recent press conference by asking if there were any "old ladies" or "f*gg*ts" in the crowd.

According to a report in The Sporting News, Ricardo "Tuca" Ferretti, 67, coach of the Liga MX soccer team, started a recent press conference with his traditional first questions for female reporters. After asking in Spanish if there were any "viejas" (or "old ladies") among the journalists in attendance, he followed that up by asking if there were also any gay reporters in the crowd by throwing out the homophobic slur "maricones," often considered the Spanish equivalent of "f*gg*ts."

"Then we have all machos here," Ferretti was quoted as saying, causing some in the room to laugh.

The league's response to Ferretti was swift and decisive. The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) announced a fine, plus a three-match ban, for Ferretti.

"Mr. Ricardo Ferretti has been sentenced to a fine and a three-match ban, to be served during the upcoming fixtures, for having transgressed Article One of Appendix III: 'Racism and discrimination' of the FMF rule book for the 2021-22 season and Article Six of the Ethics Code," the league said in a statement, later adding, "Mr. Ferretti has been warned about his future conduct and should this happen again, the disciplinary committee will hand out even more severe sanctions."

For his part, Ferratti was contrite and apologized for his use of the offensive anti-gay slur.

"I accept it was inappropriate and I will be more careful with my jokes because nowadays they are no longer acceptable because people are offended and that is my responsibility because of what I represent within Mexican football," Ferretti told ESPNafter the punishments were announced. "I should not make inappropriate comments. I apologize to all the people who were offended."

Mexican soccer has been reeling from the punishments recently handed down by FIFA after repeated use of the anti-gay slur against opposing players by fans of the Mexican National Team. Earlier this year the team was suspended for a single game without fans at their home field and fined for fans' repeated use of the slur. They were slapped with another two-game ban on fans not long after when fans resumed chanting the slur at the game following their earlier suspension.

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