The former soccer player Ronnie Gibbonsformer English club captain It’s Fulham In the early 2000s, she reported the sexual abuse she received from Mohamed Al Fayedwhich owns the team and the Harrods department store.
Al Fayedwho died in 2023, was accused by more than forty women of sexual assault between 1979 and 2013, through the BBC documentary ‘Al Fayed: A predator at Harrods’.
He Fulhamgroup where Al Fayed He was the owner between 1997 and 2013, he had not been involved in the abuses of the entrepreneur until Gibbonsin a media interview ‘The Athletic’ has revealed twice where he was attacked.
Gibbonswho was then 20 years old and captain of Fulhamwas called twice to the office of Al Fayed in the middle of Londonwhere the businessman “kissed, grabbed and groped” against his will.
“I’m blonde, thin, they called me David Beckham of women’s football in the media. Everyone knows that Al Fayed he liked girls and blonde girls,” Gibbons said, recalling that first time around Al Fayed He summons her and tells that the businessman’s sons are coming to the room.
“They took me to his office and I don’t know if the door closed automatically or someone closed it, but I came and he was the only one there. His children were not there. There was no one and I thought it was very strange. Then he grabbed me and tried to kiss me with his arms and he grabbed my hands and I couldn’t push him away, telling me ‘I’m leading you,'” the player said.
” he continued to grab me and forcefully pulled me and kissed me on the mouth. I moved so he could kiss me on the cheek. He was wearing a team shirt. Fulham and I immediately noticed the sweat on my back. It is very uncomfortable. “I froze,” he said.
Gibbonss reported that the businessman tried to sit on her lap and continued to pester her with personal questions about her family, her boyfriend and her house, in addition to offering to buy her things .
Al Fayedwho tried to kiss her several times, gave her an envelope with money and sent gifts to her house.
“I felt lucky because I was able to leave without angering him and without having to experience something worse. I felt very very uncomfortable, very intimidated and as if there were a lot of responsibility on my shoulders,” she explained.
The former player remembers that he kept getting calls from Al Fayed in the following months and that he was summoned again to his offices, where he was attacked again, with kisses, questions of a sexual nature, touching, and that, when he tried to leave, he was held by force of the businessman.
Gibbons She had to come back a third time to do an interview for the club, which she remembers as “rude” because of things the businessman said about how she was helping women’s soccer.
“I was there talking about how great this guy was because he made a professional football team. And it was all a lie,” he said.
after that, Gibbons He never returned to his offices, but he had to avoid the businessman at parties. Christmaswhere he chases after her and she tries not to be alone.
The former soccer player lost his captaincy in 2001 and felt compelled to tell this story when he saw it Gaute Haugenesthe coach who was hired that year, told the BBC that at Fulham they tried to protect the players because they knew what it was like. Al Fayed.
“It doesn’t make sense. Gaute wasn’t the coach in the first season, when I met with Al Fayed, but he really needs to know that. Al Fayed He likes me,” he explained.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
