Former ‘Fulham Ladies’ captain comes forward – at least four ex-Fulham footballers allege abuse by Mohamed Al Fayed

The former captain of Fulham FC’s women’s team, formerly known as ‘Fulham Ladies’ and widely regarded as Europe’s first fully professional female football team, has come forward to allege two counts of sexual assault by billionaire and former Fulham owner Mohamed Al Fayed. 

Ronnie Gibbons, the team captain for the 2000-2001 season, states she was instructed to attend Al Fayed’s Harrods office on both occasions on the understanding she would tell the owner’s children about her job as a female footballer. Having been driven to the store by club staff, Gibbons states that no children were present on arrival and that Al Fayed attempted to ‘forcefully kiss’ her once they were alone. 

‘He pulled me in close and tried to kiss me on the mouth’, she explained. ‘He had his arms holding my arms, at my side, so I couldn’t push him away’. Ms Gibbons states she felt Al Fayed’s intention was to dominate her, having tried again to kiss her, adding ‘he even may have stuck his tongue on me or something. I just remember feeling sick’. Al Fayed, then in his seventies, was over fifty years older than the twenty-year old Ms Gibbons.

The former captain states that on another occasion, having been summoned back to Harrods by Al Fayed, she was groped. ‘He was sort of grabbing me, trying to hold on to me and kiss me’. ‘You’re not scared are you?’, Gibbons recalls being asked, ‘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’. 

As part of her public allegations against Al Fayed, waiving her anonymity, Ms Gibbons commented that the abuse made her feel ‘used’, adding that ‘speaking my truth and telling my story will hopefully help me heal and be rid of the shame, embarrassment and pain I have carried for years’. She further added that ‘I just felt a huge responsibility on my shoulders because we’d just turned professional’, explaining that, despite desperately wanting to leave, ‘I couldn’t because I would be to blame for all these women losing their jobs and Fulham Ladies going down the pan’. 

This news comes after last month’s statement from former Fulham head coach, Gaute Haugenes, that it would not be the ‘biggest surprise’ if accusations brought against Al Fayed by former club members emerged. Haugenes also confirmed that staff put measures in place to protect some of the players. 

On his former comments, Haugenes has since apologised, stating ‘I might have been naïve’ to have overlooked the abuse, but that it was difficult to know what could have been done differently. 

Following Ms Gibbons’ allegations, Fulham FC has expressed profound trouble and ‘deepest empathy and support’ for Ms Gibbons’ allegations, expressing that steps are being taken to confirm whether anyone at the club ‘had been impacted’. Speaking about the abuse suffered by those such as Ms Gibbons, Yvonne Harrison, CEO of Women in Football, believes there are ‘significant’ challenges to female players, with abuse such as that by Al Fayed bringing ‘to the fore the prevalence of power imbalances and the risk towards women’. 

An imminent statement from the Justice for Harrods Survivors group’ is expected to comment on the abuse at Fulham. Lawyers for the group have, however, already confirmed that they act for at least four former Fulham Ladies players. Of the abuse suffered by Ms Gibbons, they added that it ‘is yet another horrible example of the monstrous abuse aided and abetted by the businesses’ Al Fayed owned. 

Meanwhile, in the latest announcement by Harrods, representatives of the Knightsbridge store conveyed that they were ‘utterly appalled’ by the alleged abuse of their former owner, and had already ‘settled a number of claims’ of abuse perpetrated at their store. A spokesman added that they were in the process of addressing over 250 claims of abuse, rape and sexual misconduct perpetrated by Al Fayed. 

In recent weeks, following the publicly-made allegations of those such as Ms Gibbons, a further 65 women are believed to have contacted the BBC to allege abuse by Al Fayed, while at least 40 contacted London Metropolitan Police with accusations of abuse by Al Fayed last week alone. 

The bravery of those coming forward to confront the abuse perpetrated by Al Fayed has also received support by members of the Al Fayed family.  Omar Fayed, son of the former billionaire, has publicly commented on his revaluation of the relationship with his father. ‘I am horrified and deeply concerned by the allegations’, ‘how this matter could have been concealed for so long and in so many ways raises further disturbing questions’, Fayed explains. 

Confirming his belief in full transparency, justice and accountability, Omar Fayed has promised to stand ‘unequivocally in support of any legitimate investigation into these allegations’. ‘No one is above the law’.