Liga MX players were forced to walk off the field as fans chanted homophobic slurs at Azteca Stadium

• Fans at Azteca Stadium chanted homophobic slurs during a CONCACAF Champions League matchup.
• With the home team, Cruz Azul, down 4-1 to Monterrey in the 64th minute, refs suspended the match.
• Players left the field due to a discriminatory language policy, though they later finished the game.

Frustrated fans resorted to obscenity at Mexico City's Azteca Stadium Thursday night.

As home club Cruz Azul trailed Monterrey 4-1 in the 64th-minute of their CONCACAF Champions League semifinal second leg match, angry spectators shouted, "puto," a spanish word for "prostitute" that is often used as a homophobic slur to deride others as weak.

-Owen Diana (@forkicksblog) September 17, 2021

Fans had resorted to the unsavory language earlier in the match, which forced referees to issue a warning. But once they unleashed their outrage and insulted their own team by continuing to use the slurs, match officials had no choice but to adhere to CONCACAF's discriminatory language policy and suspend the match.

Players from both sides walked off the field and returned to their locker rooms for 10 minutes.

-Jon Arnold (@ArnoldcommaJon) September 17, 2021

Many fans left the stadium during the break in play, though it was unclear whether they were removed for use of foul language or left on their own accord, reporter Jon Arnold shared on Twitter. Had the fans chanted the slur again, referees could have moved to "Step 3" in the discriminatory language policy and abandoned the match altogether.