Mexico coach Herrera defends gay slur chants by World Cup crowd

SANTOS, Brazil --

Mexico coach Miguel Herrera has defended World Cup fans chanting a gay slur which is under investigation by the sport's international governing body.

Herrera says Mexico fans shouting the slur as the rival team's goalkeeper takes a goal kick is ''not that bad.''

He says ''We're with our fans. It's something they do to pressure the opposing goalkeeper.''

Fare, the European fan-monitoring group, reported the chants at Mexico's 1-0 win over Cameroon in Natal. FIFA subsequently opened a disciplinary case against the Mexico federation, which is responsible for fan behavior inside stadiums.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter and Brazil President Dilma Rousseff have pledged to use the World Cup as a platform to fight racism and discrimination.

The chant became popular during a Mexico-United States qualifying match for the 2004 Olympics.