Rio de Janeiro, Dec 20 (IANS): Six Latin American national football associations have been penalized for homophobic chants by fans, the sport's world governing body FIFA has said.
The harshest penalty was given to Chile, who were handed a two-game stadium ban for abuse from supporters during a 3-1 home victory over Uruguay in their World Cup qualifier last month, reports Xinhua.
It was the third time in the 2018 World Cup qualifying tournament that Chile has been issued with a stadium ban.
"The proceedings relate to homophobic chants by the team's fans and follow previous sanctions for similar incidents during the preliminary competition of the 2018 FIFA World Cup," FIFA said in a statement.
Chile were also fined 30,000 Swiss francs (around $29,000).
Having already been told to play their next match against Venezuela in March away from their Estadio Nacional, the reigning Copa America champions must now find an alternative venue for their fixtures against Paraguay and Ecuador.
Meanwhile, Honduras were barred from playing at their Olimpico stadium in San Pedro Sula for chants by fans in a match against Panama.
In addition, the central American country's football association was fined 40,000 Swiss francs ($38,890).
Argentina were also ordered to pay $29,000 while Colombia and Panama were fined $24,300 each and Mexico and Venezuela $19,500 each.