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A former captain of Fulham Women has accused Mohamed Al Fayed of sexually assaulting her at Harrods.
Ronnie Gibbons was 20 when the alleged incident occurred during the 2000-01 season.
Gibbons was captain of what was then Fulham Ladies, the first professional team in English football, when she says Al Fayed, the billionaire owner of the club who died last year aged 94, tried to forcefully kiss her and groped her in a room above the Knightsbridge department store.
“I just felt a huge responsibility on my shoulders because we’d just turned professional,” Gibbons told The Athletic in an interview. “Everything internally was screaming at me, ‘Ronnie, you need to leave’, but I couldn’t because I would be to blame for all these women losing their jobs and Fulham Ladies going down the pan.
“I couldn’t allow anything to happen to me, but at the same time, I couldn’t just run for the hills, which is what I wanted to do.”
It is the latest in a string of historical allegations to emerge. The Metropolitan Police announced it is investigating 40 new allegations, including rape and sexual assault, against Al Fayed and others between 1979 and 2013.
The 40 new allegations relate to 40 alleged victims and are in addition to allegations police were aware of before the BBC’s investigation and documentary, Scotland Yard said.
The force said that while it would not be possible to bring criminal proceedings against the deceased Al Fayed, it would “continue to explore whether any other individuals could be pursued for any criminal offences”.
The fresh claims include of sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape come in the weeks following the airing of the broadcaster’s Al Fayed: Predator At Harrods documentary.
A spokesman for Justice for Harrods Survivors, consisting of barristers Dean Armstrong KC, Bruce Drummond, Maria Mulla, and Gloria Allred, previously said that it “now retains 71 clients and is processing a further 220 inquiries”.
Fulham said: “The Club is profoundly troubled to learn of the experiences told today by former Women’s Team captain, Ronnie Gibbons. She has our deepest empathy and support.
“We continue to stress our absolute condemnation of abuse in all forms. 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.
“Should any person wish to share information or experiences related to this matter, we urge them to contact the Police or the Club at safeguarding@fulhamfc.com.”
Harrods said in a statement: “We are utterly appalled by the allegations of abuse perpetrated by Mohamed Al Fayed. 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. We also acknowledge that during this time his victims were failed and for this, we sincerely apologise.”
