Ex-Fulham Ladies captain says she was groped by Al Fayed

Former Fulham Ladies skipper Ronnie Gibbons alleges she was "groped" connected 2 occasions by the shot club's precocious proprietor Mohamed Al Fayed.

The erstwhile Harrods brag tried to “forcefully” buss her astatine his section store successful 2000, erstwhile she was 20, she told The Athletic website.

"Speaking my information and yet telling my communicative volition hopefully assistance maine heal and beryllium escaped of the shame, embarrassment and symptom I person carried for years," she said.

Lawyers from the Justice for Harrods Survivors radical said they were representing 4 erstwhile players of the club.

Fulham FC told the BBC it was trying to found whether anyone astatine the nine "had been impacted" by Al Fayed.

Al Fayed owned Fulham betwixt 1997 and 2013.

In 2000, Fulham’s women's squad - known astatine the clip arsenic Fulham Ladies - became the archetypal pistillate shot squad successful Europe to crook professional.

Gibbons, who was skipper astatine the time, said she was driven to Harrods by nine staff. Once astatine the luxury section store, she said she was near unsocial with Al Fayed, who was past successful his 70s.

"He pulled maine successful adjacent and tried to buss maine connected the mouth," she said of their archetypal meeting.

"He had his arms holding my arms, similar astatine my side, truthful I couldn’t propulsion him distant oregon thing similar that. It was a existent benignant of power stance, similar ‘I’m dominating you’.

"I was conscionable like, ‘What bash I bash here?’ I conscionable felt similar a immense work connected my shoulders astatine that constituent due to the fact that we’d conscionable turned professional."

Gibbons said that Al Fayed tried to forcefully buss her again: "He adjacent whitethorn person stuck his lingua connected maine oregon something. I conscionable retrieve feeling sick, conscionable truly physically feeling sick, erstwhile I near there."

Later that summer, she said a subordinate of unit told her she had been summoned to Harrods again by Al Fayed.

In the interrogation with The Athletic, she recalled: "This clip helium groped me. As helium was saying goodbye, helium was benignant of grabbing me, trying to benignant of clasp connected to maine and buss me. He was like, 'You’re not frightened are you? You don’t request to beryllium scared, I’m not going to bash thing similar that, you’re precise precious, you’re a precise peculiar girl'."

Fulham FC told the BBC: "We unequivocally condemn each forms of abuse. We stay successful the process of establishing whether anyone astatine the Club is oregon would person been impacted by Mohamed Al Fayed successful immoderate mode arsenic described successful caller reports."

Last week, the Metropolitan Police said it had received 40 caller allegations from radical that included intersexual battle and rape against Al Fayed.

The allegations travel a BBC documentary and podcast, containing grounds from erstwhile Harrods employees who said the billionaire sexually assaulted oregon raped them.

Since the documentary archetypal aired successful September, a further 65 women person contacted the BBC saying they were abused by Al Fayed, with allegations stretching beyond Harrods and arsenic acold backmost arsenic 1977.

Last month, the erstwhile manager of Fulham's women's squad Gaute Haugenes told the BBC that other precautions had been enactment successful spot to support pistillate players from Al Fayed.

Haugenes, who managed the squad from 2001 to 2003, said members of unit became alert that the precocious billionaire "liked young, blonde girls".

Gibbons was reported to beryllium angered by these comments.

Speaking to the BBC connected Friday, Haugenes, who is Norwegian, said helium could wholly recognize her frustration.

"All I tin accidental is I americium truly atrocious for saying thing that could person enactment much wood connected the fire. I honestly thought we protected the players," helium said.

"I knew that helium liked Ronnie due to the fact that each the girls, they joked astir it. But I thought helium was an aged man, she was a young woman. I was 30 astatine the time, I didn’t deliberation radical his property were reasoning astir sex.

"I mightiness person been naive, it mightiness person been immoderate of the connection barriers that I didn’t prime up details successful their joking."

He added that helium had not been alert she had been told to spell to Harrods.

Asked whether nine unit could person done more, helium said it was hard to cognize what could person been done differently.

"But you should person had a strategy that picked up things similar that," helium said. "It was earlier I was a manager that she went there."

He added: “It is bittersweet to perceive she had those benignant of experiences arsenic a nonrecreational player."

The Justice for Harrods Survivors radical said the maltreatment Gibbons had endured from Al Fayed was "yet different horrible illustration of the monstrous maltreatment aided and abetted by the businesses helium owned".

They added: "We salute our client’s bravery and are arrogant to advocator for Ronnie and others astatine Fulham who are searching for justice. We volition bash immoderate we tin to assistance the lid connected abuse, nary substance wherever it was perpetrated, oregon who it was perpetrated by, including immoderate enablers of Al-Fayed's abhorrent behaviour."

A spokesperson for Harrods said it was "utterly appalled" by the allegations of maltreatment perpetrated by Al Fayed.

It said: “These were the actions of an idiosyncratic who was intent connected abusing his powerfulness wherever helium operated and we condemn them successful the strongest terms. We besides admit that during this clip his victims were failed and for this we sincerely apologise."