Mexican soccer club files lawsuit against ‘fan’ who groped U.S. soccer star Sofia Huerta

A Mexican soccer club is taking legal action after a picture emerged showing a fan groping an American female soccer player. 

U.S. soccer star Sofia Huerta, 26, posed for selfies with fans after her team, the Houston Dash, beat Mexican club Tigres Femenil 2-1 on Saturday.  

Photos show Huerta holding a cell phone to take selfies with fans, as a man comes up behind her, gives her his phone and wraps his arm around her, landing his hand on Huerta’s breast. 

The Mexican club Tigres Femenil is now launching a criminal probe and seeking a lifetime ban for that fan.   

Photos show Huerta holding a cell phone to take a selfie, as a man comes up behind her, gives her his phone and wraps his arm around her, landing his hand on her breast

Tigres has filed a lawsuit against the man and is banning him from future games

Huerta’s team, the Houston Dash, had just beat Mexican club Tigres Femenil at a match in Mexico

Photos of the groping circulated on the internet and caught the attention of the soccer club. 

‘At Tigres, we’re committed to stamping out any form of harassment in our stadium and our community, including any situation that violates a woman’s dignity or seeks to intimidate, degrade or offend women,’ the club said in a statement.  

‘As a result of events that took place on Saturday, October 5, during which a supposed ”fan” reportedly attempted to undermine the dignity of a Houston Dash player at the end of the match, we’ve decided to take action,’ the club added. 

‘We will file a lawsuit against whoever is responsible for what took place.’ 

Huerta, who has made several appearances for the U.S. Women’s National Team, has not commented on the incident. 

However her team praised Tigres for taking action. 

‘We believe that behavior has no place in our game or in our society,’ the Houston Dash stated. ‘Above all, our main priority is the security of the players and we thank Tigres’ efforts to solve this matter.’

Tigres has identified the man in the picture and filed a complaint to the attorney general of the state of Nuevo León. 

The club told CNN that it will not name the suspect publicly until their investigation is complete. 

Huerta, who has made seven appearances for the US Women’s National Team, has not commented on the incident

However, Tigres said it will ban the man from future games and he will be held legally responsible.      

Tigres Femenil officials claim their fans helped identify the man.

‘He has already been identified thanks to our fans and his information has been handed over to the respective authorities so they can do the investigation and corroborate the information,’ the team said.