Former Fulham Ladies captain Ronnie Gibbons alleges she was "groped" on two occasions by the football club's late owner Mohamed Al Fayed.
The former Harrods boss tried to “forcefully” kiss her at his department store in 2000, when she was 20, she told The Athletic website.
"Speaking my truth and finally telling my story will hopefully help me heal and be rid of the shame, embarrassment and pain I have carried for years," she said.
Lawyers from the Justice for Harrods Survivors group said they were representing four former players of the club.
Fulham FC told the BBC it was trying to establish whether anyone at the club "had been impacted" by Al Fayed.
"The club is profoundly troubled to learn of the experiences told today by former Women’s Team captain, Ronnie Gibbons," Fulham said.
"She has our deepest empathy and support."
Al Fayed owned Fulham between 1997 and 2013.
In 2000, Fulham’s women's team - known at the time as Fulham Ladies - became the first female football team in Europe to turn professional.
Gibbons, who was captain at the time, said she was driven to Harrods by club staff. Once at the luxury department store, she said she was left alone with Al Fayed, who was then in his 70s.
"He pulled me in close and tried to kiss me on the mouth," she said of their first meeting.
"He had his arms holding my arms, like at my side, so I couldn’t push him away or anything like that. It was a real kind of control stance, like ‘I’m dominating you’.
"I was just like, ‘What do I do here?’ I just felt like a huge responsibility on my shoulders at that point because we’d just turned professional."
Gibbons said that Al Fayed tried to forcefully kiss her again: "He even may have stuck his tongue on me or something. I just remember feeling sick, just really physically feeling sick, when I left there."
Comments
Post a Comment