Fifa did not follow protocol in the handling of homophobic chants during Mexico's win over Germany

Mexico were last night facing punishment for their fans’ homophobic chanting during their World Cup victory over Germany.

Fifa opened disciplinary proceedings against the Mexican Football Federation after thousands of the country’s supporters repeatedly yelled “puto” - the Spanish word for a male prostitute - during Sunday’s game at the Luzhniki Stadium.

The chanting - seemingly directed primarily at Manuel Neuer - was filmed by the governing body’s independent anti-discrimination observers and reported to those responsible for policing bigotry in the stadium.

The abuse was the first major test at the World Cup of Fifa’s so-called ‘three-step process’ for dealing with bigotry from the stands.

The first step involves the referee stopping the game so a warning can be issued over the public address, which, if ignored, is then escalated to the match being suspended and eventually abandoned.

However, Fifa did not initiate the three-step process on Sunday.

Asked why, a spokesman told the Daily Telegraph: “A public announcement was prepared, but the chants ceased.

“After the match, and as an important step for further action, the incident was duly included in the match report, as well as the evidence produced by the anti-discrimination observers.

“Based on those reports, Fifa’s disciplinary committee has opened proceedings against the Mexican FA.”

World Cup referees are under orders to follow the three-step process if they hear discriminatory chanting and the chairman of Fifa’s referees committee, Pierluigi Collina, said on the eve of the tournament that match officials would not hesitate to do so.

He said: “The referees know it very well. And, of course, they are ready to go through it when needed.”

The FMF was repeatedly fined for its fans’ use of the word “puto” during World Cup qualifying but controversially avoided a stadium ban, a sanction imposed on other Latin American associations for persistent homophobic abuse by supporters.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport also cancelled two fines issued to Mexico in November, ruling the chant on those occasions had been “insulting” but not intended to offend.

It allowed other fines imposed on the FMF to stand.

Fifa began taking action over the “puto” chant after being condemned for failing to punish Mexico for it at the last World Cup in Brazil.

During qualifying for Russia 2018, it punished homophobic abuse on 56 occasions.

Mexico accounted for 12 of those transgressions, Chile 10, Argentina six, and Brazil and Honduras five each.

Only Chile and Honduras ended up with stadium bans, sparking calls for Fifa to increase the severity of its punishments for homophobic chants.

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Unlike “race, colour, language, religion or origin”, sexual orientation is not mentioned in Article 58 of Fifa’s disciplinary code, which governs discrimination.

Breaches of Article 58 incur a minimum fine of 30,000 Swiss francs, with “serious offences” punishable by matches being played behind closed doors, the forfeit of a match, a points deduction of expulsion from a competition.

All 56 cases of homophobic chanting during World Cup qualifying were dealt with under Article 67 of the code, which governs “insulting words”, and for which there is no minimum tariff.

Piara Powar, the chief of Fare, which helps Fifa administer its anti-discrimination monitoring system, said in November that “harsher punishments” were needed for homophobic abuse, highlighting the current loophole in the regulations.