A former Fulham football player, Ronnie Gibbons, says she was the victim of sexual assault in the early 2000s by Mohamed Al-Fayed, the former owner of the London club, who died in 2023 and was targeted by many similar accusations.
In an article published Friday by The Athletic, she speaks for the first time.
The former defender and captain of Fulham Ladies claims to have suffered, at the age of 20, two attacks from Al-Fayed, boss of the club between 1997 and 2013. The facts allegedly occurred in the office of the businessman located in the luxury Harrods store which he owned.
The Egyptian billionaire, who died in August 2023 at the age of 94, called her into his office for the first time, explaining that his children wanted to talk about football with her, which was false. He allegedly made her sit on his lap during the interview, kissed her and stroked her knee, according to her account.
“A huge responsibility on my shoulders”
The second time, Al-Fayed allegedly kissed her again by force. He also allegedly slid his hand from the young woman’s face to her waist, before she managed to leave the room by banging on the door. Gibbons explains that he did not want to denounce the facts at the time so as not to endanger the future of his team.
“I felt a huge responsibility on my shoulders because we had just become professionals”she said.
“Everything inside me was screaming + Ronnie, you have to go! +, but I couldn’t, because I would have been responsible for all these women losing their jobs and the fall of Fulham Ladies”she said.
She says a club member drove her from the training center to Harrods each time.
“What former Fulham captain Ronnie Gibbons was forced to endure at the hands of Mohamed Al-Fayed is another horrific example of the monstrous abuses committed with the aid and abetment of the companies he owned”responded “Justice for Harrods Survivors”.
This team of lawyers, who represent more than a hundred women accusing Al-Fayed, announced further revelations regarding the west London club “next week”.
“We unequivocally condemn all forms of abuse. We are still establishing whether anyone at the club is or may have been affected by the actions of Mohamed Al-Fayed in any way, as reported in the press recently.commented Fulham FC.
Following a documentary broadcast in September by the BBC, testimonies from women accusing the billionaire of rape and sexual assault have multiplied, notably from the police and lawyers. More than 200 of them have initiated amicable settlement proceedings with Harrods.
