Alexi Lalas Questions If USMNT Match Should Have Been Paused For Mexico Fans Shouting Homophobic Slurs

Sunday's Nations League final between the USMNT and Mexico in Dallas was paused not once, but twice, due to Mexico fans shouting homophobic slurs. Former USMNT player turned Fox Sports analyst Alexi Lalas, however, isn't so sure the match should have been put on hold.

With the USMNT leading its rival 2-0 in the final few minutes of the match at AT&T Stadium, fans could be heard chanting ‘puto.' The slur means male proustite, but in Mexican Spanish it roughly translates to ‘fa----’ and is typically a word used to question someone's masculinity. The chant was mostly heard when USMNT Matt Turner was taking goal kicks.

Stadium officials made multiple calls over the loud speakers telling fans to stop the chant, referee Drew Fischer took things into his own hands and elected to halt the game for almost five minutes. Many Mexico fans left the stadium during the break, but the chants continued shortly after, with Fischer stopping the game for a second time shortly before the final whistle.

After the incident, Lalas questioned if pausing the game was the right course of action while making a valid point about how halting the match could actually be seen as rewarding bad behavior.

"I don't know what the answer is, but it seems like stopping the game for 5-minute punishments actually rewards the bad behavior of the crowd by giving them a power over what happens in the field," Lalas posted to X, formerly Twitter. 

 Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Sunday night's match was not the first time a U.S.- Mexico clash has been affected by Mexico supporters shouting homophobic slurs. 

A similar scene unfolded in June of last year when the U.S. routed Mexico 3-0 in Las Vegas. The referee in that particular contest halted the match in the 90th minute and then blew the final whistle early with four minutes remaining in stoppage time.

As Lalas admitted that he did not know what the answer is in terms of punishing teams and fans in this sort of instance, but many of his followers offered up ideas that included awarding a penalty kick to the opposing team while another suggested a goal be given to the other team if chants occur. Lalas didn't like that idea either as that would "give offenders in the stands the power to influence the game."