Smiley-faced Brazilian football mascot is accused of sexual harassment by a female reporter, who claims the man inside ‘pushed her head and made a kissing gesture’ in a goal celebration

A courtside reporter filed a complaint against a mascot for sexual harassment, accusing the club icon of pushing her head and making gestures to kiss her.

The incident allegedly took place during Internacional’s 3-2 draw against Gremio on Sunday, when Gisele Kumpel claims that the home team’s mascot was constantly gesturing at her.

He had occupied a place behind the goal during the Brazilian top flight clash and, speaking with GloboEsporteHe accused Saci – the club’s mascot – of pushing his head and making a kiss gesture.

“I was the only woman on that side of the field.” Kumpel said. ‘There were other journalists, but he only did that to me.

“He came to my side and hugged me.” He added about the moment when Alan Patrick scored the late winning goal for the Porto Alegre team.

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‘He stayed hugging me. Even with the mask on, she pushed my head and made a gesture of kissing me. I could hear the sound of her kiss and felt her sweat.’

Internacional confirmed that they have provided police with security footage of the stadium so they can investigate the complaint.

The club has also announced that the employee who acted as mascot on Sunday will be stood down while the investigation is carried out.

‘Regarding the registration of an incident related to the figure of the Saci mascot, Sport Club Internacional reports that it sent the images of its internal monitoring circuit to the Police Station in charge of investigating the episode.’ The club’s statement began.

‘We trust that all the facts are duly clarified with the police authority. Therefore, pending the prompt resolution of the case, the employee responsible for the mascot and the Club itself will remain at the disposal of the authorities.

‘Until the process is completed, the employee will be separated from Saci representation.’

Kumpel took to social media on Monday to lament the problems women face in football, saying: “Another day when women want to do their job in football and suffer for it with idiots who are criminals.”

She also vowed to pursue her case ‘so that no other woman goes through this’ in a post that included images that appeared to show her in a police station.