French footballer Thierry Henry was just 17 when he made his professional debut in 1994, and four years later, he helped to bring the French national team the international championship during the 1998 FIFA World Cup. In 2004, Henry experienced the most potent incident of racism in his career: During a training session with the Spanish national team, the Spanish national coach Luis Aragonés was recorded by a Spanish TV crew referring to Henry as a "black piece of s***" to José Antonio Reyes, Henry's Arsenal teammate. The event rocked him, but unfortunately it failed to be the most hateful language or experience that he had or would endure in his career. The athlete would be showered with spit and mucus, serenaded with monkey chants and pelted with bananas on a regular basis by opposing fans.

That experience, however, is not his alone. In fact, West Ham United players Clyde Best and Ade Coker were subjected to monkey chants when they were playing soccer during the 1960s, 40 years earlier. The chants have continued, and players, such as Jozy Altidore and Danny Alves, have inherited this treatment. While FIFA has attempted to tackle the issue for decades with ineffective, non-punishment consequences that "combine conferences with education," players continue to feel unsafe.

On May 23, 2012, FIFA appointed 49-year-old Jeffery Webb as CONCACAF president, FIFA vice president and chairman of the FIFA anti-discrimination task force to help better the situation.

Webb assembled an anti-racist platform, which means to administer real punishments. He's constructed a system whereby guilty parties or the teams of perpetrators suffer financial penalties, the deduction of points and a reduction to lower leagues. Nonetheless, many believe that thirst for justice will go unquenched and racism will persist.

The reluctant tolerance of racism has given way to a spout of homophobia: Mexico's fans harmonized a chant, singing "puto" during two recent matches when Mexico was pitted against Cameroon and Brazil.

HBO's "Real Sports," hosted by Bryant Gumbel, aired an episode in April, entitled "Soccer Racism." The episode reported on the frequent and disgusting displays of racism in European football, which have gone to show the "ugly side of a beautiful game." Several black soccer players spoke about abuse as well as the resulting pain, anger and humiliation felt because of xenophobic game-goers, who hang effigies and bolster hateful speech.

Obviously not in the same manner, "puto" also is hateful speech. While the term has a variety of uses and meanings, depending on a speaker's origin or intention, it is a word that's solely used to disparage others.

"From a purely etymological point of view, 'puto' comes from 'puta', which most likely comes from the Latin 'putida/putere' (to stink) or from 'putta' (girl, but often street girl). This is no surprise; prostitution was a pretty dirty/smelly profession for many a century," Melissa Mann, an etymologist, translator and interpreter for English, Portuguese and Spanish languages, said to Latin Post in an email exchange. "I found that scholars have found written references to the masculine form of the word, 'puttus' (boy), as early as the first century B.C., and that these writings had clearly ascribed 'puttus' the definition of a boy who prostitutes himself. I could not dig up exactly when the Latin form of the term entered the Spanish language, but my own hunch is that the term has been around as long as Spanish has."

Mann, who lived in Mexico for five years, went on to state that she has little to say on Mexican machismo, which often goes hand-in-hand with its notorious homophobia. She also said that she has no clue as to how the term became so widespread.

"The term 'puto' in itself is a derogatory term, no doubt. It has several meanings, used both towards men and women, in which case the meaning translates to someone who sleeps around. There is no way around the fact that it is a terrible word," Bilingual ESPN anchor Alfredo Lomeli said to Latin Post, his opinions not being a reflection of ESPN's. "Having said that, it is very difficult to explain to someone who is not Mexican, or close to the Mexican heritage, that this word is used very often during sporting events, and the intent is most definitely not as an anti-gay slur but as a distraction for the opposing team. In that regard, I do believe the word has been taken out of context, and I also believe the majority of the Mexican fans would agree. I do feel like the decades-long race issue in the world of futbol has created a platform for anti-gay issues, and the overall attention to these problems is a good thing. The dialogue that is created from these issues can only takes us to a higher level of understanding and sympathy towards other cultures and lifestyles."

Sometimes slang for "fag" or "man whore" or "coward," the word being used during Mexican soccer matches only dates back to 2003, which discredits the usage as a tradition. FIFA, which isn't a fan of inflammatory remarks, has launched an investigation to examine Mexican fans' use of "puto."

Giovanni Marti from FIFA's Media Department shared the following statement with Latin Post:

Speaking generally, we encourage individuals and groups, such as FARE, to submit any evidence in their possession with regard to discriminatory behavior for the analysis and consideration of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee.
FIFA takes a firm, zero-tolerance stance against any form of discrimination and racism and this is enshrined in the FIFA Statutes in article 3 which stipulates that: "Discrimination of any kind against a Country, private person or group of people on account of race, skin color, ethnic, national or social origin, gender, language, religion, political opinion or any other opinion, wealth, birth or any other status, sexual orientation or any other reason is strictly prohibited and punishable by suspension or expulsion."

As part of the World Cup activities, FIFA continues its social media campaign inviting stars, players and fans to #SayNoToRacism, while the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup will be dedicated to the fight against discrimination.
We can confirm that we have been contacted by FARE. Prior to this, disciplinary proceedings were opened against Mexico for improper conduct of spectators during the match Mexico -- Cameroon. As the proceedings are ongoing, we are not in a position to comment further.

Major League Soccer (MLS), founded in 1993 as a part of the United States' successful bid to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup, politely declined the opportunity to comment on the fans' behavior at the World Cup but did share a statement with Latin Post.

"Major League Soccer has zero tolerance for discrimination or prejudice of any kind and we are deeply committed to diversity and fairness on our fields, in our stadiums and in our workplace," MLS Executive Vice President of communications Dan Courtemanche said. "We are proud of our record in those areas and expect our owners, clubs and fans to live up to the league's high standards."

Courtemanche also said that MLS' high standards are reiterated in their "Don't Cross the Line" initiative. MLS has fined and suspended players in the past for using unacceptable and offensive language, and Courtemanche brought attention to the first openly gay Major League Soccer Player, Robbie Rogers, a midfielder for Los Angeles Galaxy.

While it's too early to know how FIFA plans to handle Mexico's fans, if history is any indicator, little may be done. Though, if they were looking to make an example of a team, it'd more likely be Mexico than a European team. But, why punish Mexico now and not 10 years ago when the word first came into rotation?

FIFA's failure to tame untamable audiences is why Altidore feels the same hatred and fear that Best felt 50 years ago. And with 2018's World Cup taking place in Russia, a country that known for its anti-black sentiment, many wonder if banana tossing and monkey cries will persist.

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