California Football Player Accused of Smearing Substance, 'Possibly Icy Hot,' on Opponent's Face
The alleged incident happened during a high school game in Los Angeles.
— -- A high school football player from Los Angeles has been accused of smearing a "substance, possibly Icy Hot," on an opponent's face during a recent game, according to the alleged victim's school principal.
The alleged incident happened on the evening of Sept. 4 during the third quarter of a varsity game between La Cañada High School and Bishop Mora Salesian High School College Preparatory at Salesian's stadium in Los Angeles, La Cañada principal Ian McFeat said.
"After one of the plays was over, one of Salesian's players reached under one of our player's helmet and smeared a substance, possibly Icy Hot, on his face," McFeat told ABC News. "It had the same smell and consistency as Icy Hot."
He added that La Cañada High School had video of the alleged attack, though the footage is low-quality and makes it unclear what exactly happened.
"Our player came off the field, and our trainer saw and tried to take it all off," McFeat said. "It was all over his face and on his neck as well. Our coach then approached the referee and told him our player said a Salesian player did this and smeared the substance all over his face."
But the game's head referee said he didn't see the incident, McFeat said. Coaches from both La Cañada and Salesian stepped in the middle of the field for 10 minutes to discuss what happened, he added.
After the 10-minute discussion, both players were allowed to finish the game, McFeat said. The alleged victim didn't sustain any major injuries, he added.
The La Cañada principal said he immediately called Salesian's princpal, Alex Chacon, after the game and that Chacon finally called him back last week, saying he would look into the situation.
Chacon told ABC News today that he called McFeat to "apologize on behalf of our entire school community."
"I feel horrible about the whole situation," he said. "It's really unfortunately what happened, and we have addressed it appropriately."
Chacon added that because it's his "responsibility as an educator to protect our students as minors," he could not provide any further details on the disciplinary action that has been taken against the Salesian student who allegedly smeared a substance on the La Cañada student's face.
Both McFeat and Chacon declined to identify the two students involved in the alleged incident.
A Los Angeles Police Department spokesman today told ABC News that its Hollenbeck Community Police Station has detectives investigating the alleged incident and referred all inquiries to them. The Hollenbeck Community Police Station did not immediately return ABC News' calls requesting additional information.
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