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| 출처=중계화면 |
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The Spanish women's soccer community has been embroiled in a big controversy over an inappropriate contact between players during the game.
The incident occurred on the 9th (Korea time) in the 18th round of the Spanish Women's Professional League Liga against Barcelona and Espanyol 'Catalunya Derby'.
The broadcast footage showed Barcelona's 2-0 victory, Barcelona's set-piece chance around 14:51 minutes into the first half, and Spain's national defender Mafie Leon touching the local area during a fierce physical fight with his opponent, Colombia's national team Daniela Caracas.
The video of him touching his groin in the penalty box and then sharing a few words spread quickly through SNS. Since then, the video has become a hot topic among soccer fans, and both clubs have issued a statement to protect the players. Leon is a defender who has won five league titles and three European Champions League titles in Barcelona. Leon was the first Spaniard to come out through Spanish outlet El Mundo in 2018 and has been in a public relationship with teammate and Norwegian international Ingrid Engen since 2022. In addition, Espanyol ace Caracas led Colombia to the quarterfinals at the 2023 Australia-New Zealand Women's World Cup.
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| photo source=Mafia Leon SNS |
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| Source= Espanyol Club |
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In an official statement, the Espanyol club condemns the incident that took place at last Sunday's derby match between Espanyol and Barcelona. It is unacceptable to us and should never be overlooked." "Barcelona player Leon made a gesture that violated our team's privacy during a physical fight with Caracas."At the time, Caracas was unable to respond immediately due to the impact of the situation. Later, I grasped the situation and recognized the seriousness of the gesture, but I held back my anger to avoid disciplinary sanctions and not harm the team," he added. "In addition to what happened on the field, there was also a regrettable incident on social media in which our players were subject to insults from hundreds of people. We are concerned that the media's attention is diverted to other issues unrelated to the seriousness of the act" and aggressively protected the players."We firmly believe in the fundamental values of football, respect and sportsmanship, and we hope that this situation will be dealt with with with the seriousness appropriate to it. In addition, if the player wishes to take legal action in this regard, he/she will support the club's legal services" he said.
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| Source=Varsha Club |
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As the incident spread to an expanded day, Leon, who was identified as the perpetrator, also actively explained through the Barcelona club. "I did not, in any case, infringe on the privacy of my colleague Caracas, nor did I intend to infringe" he pleaded. "As you can see from the pictures, Caracas came to me intentionally and hit me and I responded to this by saying, 'What's wrong? What's the problem?' he said, just touching her leg. The touch on the covert part of my colleague could not take place" he insisted.
"Carracas criticizes the bullying he appears to be being subjected to on social media and reveals that he has nothing to do with me. I send my heartfelt support for her." "I am angry and disappointed that there have been numerous noises and controversies surrounding my name, and that there are people who are bent on damaging my image and principles by spreading fabricated news for another purpose." "I am ready to take legal action against those who seek to use and profit from football to harm me with unconfirmed information."
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
