Barcelona’s Mapi León accused of ‘violating intimacy’ of opponent Espanyol have expressed their “complete discontent and condemnation” of an “unacceptable” incident in which the Barcelona defender Mapi León appeared to gesture towards the crotch area of their player Daniela Caracas during the Liga F match between the sides on Sunday.
“During the match, FC Barcelona player María Pilar León, while jostling with Daniela Caracas, made a gesture with her hand that violated the intimacy of our player,” Espanyol said on Monday in a statement.
In a statement released via Barcelona’s website later on Monday, León, 29, said: “At no time did I, nor was it my intention, infringe upon the intimacy of my fellow professional Daniela Caracas.
Since the incident Caracas, 27, has been subject to abuse on social media from “hundreds of profiles”, according to Espanyol, who expressed their concern that media attention of the incident had been “diverted to other issues unrelated to the seriousness of the action”.
“Although Caracas was unable to react at the time due to the impact of the situation, later, after assimilating what had happened, she became aware of the seriousness of the gesture, but chose not to react angrily in order to avoid a disciplinary sanction that would harm the team.”.
