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.
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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.”
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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.
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“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.”
Later that summer, she said a member of staff told her she had been summoned to Harrods again by Al Fayed.
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In the interview with The Athletic, she recalled: “This time he groped me. As he was saying goodbye, he was sort of grabbing me, trying to sort of hold on to me and kiss me. He was like, ‘You’re not scared are you? You don’t need to be scared, I’m not going to do anything like that, you’re very precious, you’re a very special girl’.”
Fulham FC told the BBC: “We unequivocally condemn all forms of abuse. We remain in the process of establishing whether anyone at the Club is or would have been impacted by Mohamed Al Fayed in any manner as described in recent reports.”
The allegations follow a BBC documentary and podcast, containing testimony from former Harrods employees who said the billionaire sexually assaulted or raped them.
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Since the documentary first aired in September, a further 65 women have contacted the BBC saying they were abused by Al Fayed, with allegations stretching beyond Harrods and as far back as 1977.
‘Extra precautions’
Last month, the former manager of Fulham’s women’s team Gaute Haugenes told the BBC that extra precautions had been put in place to protect female players from Al Fayed.
Haugenes, who managed the team from 2001 to 2003, said members of staff became aware that the late billionaire “liked young, blonde girls”.
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Gibbons was reported to be angered by these comments.
Speaking to the BBC on Friday, Haugenes, who is Norwegian, said he could completely understand her frustration.
“All I can say is I am really sorry for saying something that could have put more wood on the fire. I honestly thought we protected the players,” he said.
“I knew that he liked Ronnie because all the girls, they joked about it. But I thought he was an old man, she was a young woman. I was 30 at the time, I didn’t think people his age were thinking about sex.
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“I might have been naive, it might have been some of the language barriers that I didn’t pick up details in their joking.”
He added that he had not been aware she had been told to go to Harrods.
Asked whether club staff could have done more, he said it was difficult to know what could have been done differently.
“But you should have had a system that picked up things like that,” he said. “It was before I was a manager that she went there.”
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He added: “It is sad to hear she had those kind of experiences as a professional player.”
The CEO of Women in Football (WIF) told the BBC there are “significant challenges” in the female football environment.
“It brings to the fore the prevalence of power in balances and the risk towards women in the industry working both on and off the pitch,” Yvonne Harrison said.
“For players it is really important that they are protected, they are safeguarded and that their voices are first and foremost listened to – and that is the same off the pitch as well.”
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The Justice for Harrods Survivors group said the abuse Gibbons had endured from Al Fayed was “yet another horrible example of the monstrous abuse aided and abetted by the businesses he owned”.
They added: “We salute our client’s bravery and are proud to advocate for Ronnie and others at Fulham who are searching for justice. We will do whatever we can to lift the lid on abuse, no matter where it was perpetrated, or who it was perpetrated by, including any enablers of Al-Fayed’s abhorrent behaviour.”
A spokesperson for Harrods said it was “utterly appalled” by the allegations of abuse perpetrated by Al Fayed.
It said: “These were the actions of an individual who was intent on abusing his power wherever he operated and we condemn them in the strongest terms.
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“We also acknowledge that during this time his victims were failed and for this we sincerely apologise.”
Watch highlights as Falkirk score three first-half goals to ease past Hamilton Academical and move five points clear at the top of the Scottish Championship.
“He lacks some game time, but that is normal,” Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola said Friday. “He is feeling very well, doing well, has good sensations and has trained very well this (international) break with us. He is ready.”
Adams was limited to three EPL games last season because of a hamstring injury that sidelined him from Sept. 27 until March 13. He returned for two matches, then didn’t play for Bournemouth after March 30 because of back spasms.
The 25-year-old Adams played a full game for the U.S. when it was eliminated from the Copa América with a 1-0 group stage loss to Uruguay on July 1 and had back surgery days later.
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Cheesehead takes the Week 1 Wheel
Megan from Indiana kicked off the 2024 football season with some cash in her pocket, winning in NFL Week 1.
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NFL Week 1 winner Megan (pictured with husband) said she’s ‘optimistic’ about the Packers’ season
The Saint goes Cashing In
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Saints fan Ba won the Super 6 NFL Week 2 contest
Deep in the Heart of Texas
Everything’s bigger in Texas, including college football. So it was only fitting that the college football Week 3 winner hailed from the Lone Star State.
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And although the retiree makes his home in Texas, the team that has his heart is several hundred miles away.
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Jeffrey from Texas all smiles after winning the college football Week 3 contest
Welcome, Rookie
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Paul from Maryland is somewhat of a Super 6 newbie. When he hit the college football Week 5 jackpot, he’d only been playing the game for three weeks.
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Here’s a summary of question analytics across the NFL & College Football Super 6 contests over the first five weeks.
Paul wants to use his prize toward a new car for his son
Perfect, Hardest, Easiest
Every week, the contest challenges its participants with fun, knowledge-oriented questions. We dug into the data to highlight a few nuggets from the first few weeks of the college football and NFL seasons.
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Number of perfect entries Across both the NFL and college football contests, there have been a total of two perfect entries. Both came in the NFL contest — one during Week 1 and one during Week 5.
Overall hardest (most incorrect) question through the first five weeks College football Week 6, Question No. 2: “Order the teams by who will score the MOST POINTS (highest to lowest):” with only 0.16% of entries correctly ordering them correctly as: Texas Tech Red Raiders > Arizona Wildcats > Arkansas Razorbacks > Tennessee Volunteers, driven by the Arkansas upset of Tennessee
Overall hardest (most incorrect) non-ranker question through the first five weeks College football Week 3, Question No. 3: “Who will have the most RUSHING YARDS?,” with only 8.88% of entries correctly selecting RJ Harvey
Overall hardest (most incorrect) non-ranker NFL question through the first five weeks NFL Week 3, Question No. 5: “Which team will have the MOST TOTAL YARDS from scrimmage?,” with only 13.39% of entries correctly selecting the Eagles.
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Overall easiest (most correct) question through the first five weeks College football Week 5, Question No. 6: “What will be the outcome of this game? Colorado Buffaloes: Win, or lose by 15 points or fewer or UCF Knights: Win by 16 points or more,” with 82.96% of entries correctly picking Colorado.
Biggest upset on Question No. 6 to pick the outcome of the Featured Game of the Week NFL Week 5, Question No. 6: “What will be the outcome of this game? Arizona Cardinals (15 pts): Win, Tie, or Lose by 7 points or fewer or San Francisco 49ers (15 pts): Win by 8 or more points,” with only 25.21% of entries correctly picking the Cardinals.
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Gianni Infantino says player welfare “remains a priority” for Fifa despite the top European leagues and players’ union Fifpro filing a legal complaint to the European Commission.
World football’s governing body has been accused of abusing a dominant position under EU competition law by failing to properly consult over the international fixture calendar, which included the introduction of a new 32-team Club World Cup next summer.
Unions and clubs said Fifa has harmed the economic interests of leagues and jeopardised player welfare through its “unilateral” approach.
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Fifa chief Infantino posted a photo of himself on Instagram, external meeting David Aganzo, the president of the Spanish union AFE, in Miami.
Underneath it he wrote “Fifa continues to work with player bodies to ensure player welfare remains a priority. I look forward to continue working with David and everyone at AFE to achieve this goal”.
World players’ union Fifpro declined to comment, but sources told the PA news agency that Aganzo’s meeting with Infantino was a personal one.
In September, Manchester City and Spain midfielder Rodri joined a growing chorus of voices in the game who suggested players were “close” to going on strike if their concerns on the congested calendar were not heard.
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Fifpro lodged the complaint to the European Commission on Monday alongside European Leagues, which represents 39 leagues – including the English Premier League – and 1,130 clubs across 33 countries.
A separate legal challenge has also been submitted the Belgian courts. In that case, the unions want the European Court of Justice to rule whether Fifa’s actions breach the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
The scheduling of the Club World Cup in the United States is regarded as the tipping point in sparking the call for action as it will not finish until 13 July, leaving little time for an off-season break before preparations for domestic campaigns begin.
Fifa insisted the calendar agreement was the result of extensive consultation, and has accused leagues of hypocrisy because many of them, including the Premier League, have scheduled pre-season events of their own.
Series winner: Yankees -360 favorites (bet $10 to win $12.78 total); Guardians +280 underdogs (bet $10 to win $38 total)
GAME 3 (Friday @ CLE) Spread: Yankees -1.5 O/U: 7.5 total runs scored Moneyline: Yankees -118, Guardians -102
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