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(CNN) - A football fan faces a lifelong ban by the Mexican club Tigres after apparently bracing the chest of American footballer Sofia Huerta.
The incident happened after Saturday's friendly game in Mexico between Tigres and the Houston Dash club in which Huerta, of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the highest level of American football.
Huerta, who has played seven times for the United States National Team, was taking a selfie with fans on the stand when the man, who was behind her posing for the photo apparently grabbed his chest.
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The Tigres club issued a statement on Monday, along with a WhatsApp number, asking for help from its fan base to identify the man.
"Once the so-called fanatic has been identified, you will be banned from entering any of our facilities and any female or male party for life," the club said in a statement.
"In Tigres we are committed to eradicate in our stadium and from our community any form of harassment or situation that threatens human dignity or attempts to intimidate, degrade or offend women," the statement said.
“Derived from the events that took place on Saturday, October 5, where a pseudo-fan presumably attempted against the dignity of a Houston Dash player at the end of the game, we decided to act in this situation. We will file a lawsuit before who is responsible for what happened. ”
Sofía Huerta has played for both the Mexican and the American national team.
In a statement to CNN, the Tigres club said: "It has already been identified thanks to our fans and their information has been delivered to the respective authorities so they can investigate and corroborate the information."
The Mexican club said he would like to "apologize profusely" to Huerta and his family for the "unfortunate experience."
"For Tigers, above all, protecting and defending the dignity of all people will always be of the utmost importance," said the club.
Tigres transmitted the information to the Attorney General of the State of Nuevo León, and the Prosecutor's Office specialized in femicides and crimes against women to investigate the case.
"The prosecutor opened an investigation in follow-up to the facts spread on social networks about the probable criminal conduct against a Houston Dash team player," the office said in a statement to CNN.
“According to the information also disseminated through media statements, the events occurred at the end of a match held on October 5, 2019 at the University Stadium in San Nicolás de los Garza, after which an unidentified fan presumably touched to the young athlete. "
Neither the club nor the prosecutor have identified the fan at this stage of the investigation.
In a statement, Houston Dash said it supports Tigres' "zero tolerance" position toward the incident.
"We believe that the behavior has no place in our game or in our society," said the club. "Above all, our top priority is the safety of the players and we appreciate the efforts of Tigres to resolve this issue."
CNN asked Houston Dash if it was possible to contact Huerta for comment, but the club did not respond immediately.
Tigres is one of the most supported clubs in Mexico. The men's team has won seven national championships and women have won two titles since they formed for the women's inaugural season in 2017.
- Natalie Gallon contributed to this report.
Women's Football