Sports
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Athlete Held Up During Game
Mario Rodriguez of Guatemala raises his hands as a crazed fan holds him at gun point.
Mario Rodriguez, a player for Guatemala, was help up during the match with Haiti, part of the teams' XIX Central American & Caribbean Games soccer match in San Salvador on Nov. 26. Erik Beauvais, who was standing behind Rodriguez, also put up his hands in fear of being assaulted.
Witnesses claim a man wearing only a red helmet and red underwear ran onto the field with what looked to be a black hand gun. Rodriguez later said the fan demanded that he remove his pants and give them to the nearly naked diehard.
Officers quickly arrived on the scene to detain the subject. After discovering the hand gun was only a toy water pistol, officers wrestled the fan to the ground. Some mothers, however, don't feel officers arrived soon enough to prevent the children attending the game from observing the obscenities being displayed on the field.
One mother claimed between sobs, "Now my son wants me to buy him red underwear."
A spokesperson for the stadium claimed responsibility for the incident and offered free counselling for any child that was present at the match.
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