Shocking moment sports reporter has her hair pulled by unruly soccer fans traveling to game

A Brazilian soccer reporter had her hair violently pulled by unruly fans in a shocking video from Rio de Janeiro's Galeao Airport.

Duda Dalponte, a 25-year-old reporter with SportTV and TVGlobo, was doing a segment on Flamengo fans as they prepared to travel to Lima, Peru to see their club in Saturday's Copa Libertadores final. 

Dressed in a blue shirt, Dalponte was standing in front of cheering red-and-black-clad Flamengo fans outside the airport when her head is suddenly jerked backwards.

The culprit isn't identifiable from the video, but Dalponte appeared to confront the individual after having her ponytail grabbed for a second and third time.

That footage sparked concern around the soccer world for Dalponte, who has since explained the incident in a translated Instagram video. At first, she explained, Dalponte thought the pull was unintentional, but that changed when it happened again.

'The second time,' she said, 'I realized it was intentional, and then the third time I turned around to try to understand what was happening, to try to see who was doing it. I spoke with some fans there, but we couldn't find who it was.'

Adding that journalists are accustomed to dealing with 'a lot of excited people' and 'people celebrating,' Dalponte explained how this fan crossed the line.

'But some things are not jokes, they're not just excitement — some things are aggression, and what happened today was aggression,' she said. 'It's a regrettable situation; I was very sad to go through this, for this to still happen.

'I hope it doesn't happen again, and that it serves as a lesson for those who disrespect journalists working on the street, especially women, to understand the impact.'

Then, in a translated caption to the post, she added: 'Long day but all good! Thank you for the messages.'

Those messages included a significant amount of support and encouragement for Dalponte and ample disgust with the unidentified assailant.

'I was watching live and couldn't believe it,' one person wrote on social media. 'It's very revolting.'

'Lack of respect!' read one translated post. '[Totally] absurd! Our solidarity with the reporter.'

Another blamed all misconduct on the team's supporters: 'Not every Flamengo fan, but always a Flamengo fan.'

Flamengo faces Sao Paolo's Palmeiras on Saturday in the championship game of the Copa Libertadores, which is similar to Europe's UEFA Champions League.