Ex-Fulham Ladies captain Ronnie Gibbons āgropedā by Al Fayed
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Ronnie Gibbons, pictured here in 2001, says she was assaulted by Al Fayed when she was 20
Former Fulham Ladies captain Ronnie Gibbons alleges she was āgropedā on two occasions by the football clubās late owner Mohamed Al Fayed.
The former Harrods boss tried to āforcefullyā kiss her at his department store in 2000, when she was 20, she told The Athletic website.
āSpeaking 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,ā she said.
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 āhad been impactedā by Al Fayed.
āThe club is profoundly troubled to learn of the experiences told today by former Womenās Team captain, Ronnie Gibbons,ā Fulham said.
āShe has our deepest empathy and support.ā
Al Fayed owned Fulham between 1997 and 2013.
In 2000, Fulhamās womenās team ā known at the time as Fulham Ladies ā 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.
āHe pulled me in close and tried to kiss me on the mouth,ā she said of their first meeting.
āHe had his arms holding my arms, like at my side, so I couldnāt push him away or anything like that. It was a real kind of control stance, like āIām dominating youā.
āI was just like, āWhat do I do here?ā I just felt like a huge responsibility on my shoulders at that point because weād just turned professional.ā
Gibbons said that Al Fayed tried to forcefully kiss her again: āHe even may have stuck his tongue on me or something. I just remember feeling sick, just really physically feeling sick, when I left there.ā
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Allegations against Mohamed Al Fayed stretch back to 1977
Later that summer, she said a member of staff told her she had been summoned to Harrods again by Al Fayed.
In the interview with The Athletic, she recalled: āThis 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, āYouāre not scared are you? You donāt need to be scared, Iām not going to do anything like that, youāre very precious, youāre a very special girlā.ā
Fulham FC told the BBC: āWe 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.ā
Last week, the Metropolitan Police said it had received 40 new allegations from people that included sexual assault and rape against Al Fayed.
The allegations follow a BBC documentary and podcast, containing testimony from former Harrods employees who said the billionaire sexually assaulted or raped them.
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.
āExtra precautionsā
Last month, the former manager of Fulhamās womenās 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 āliked young, blonde girlsā.
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.
āAll 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,ā he said.
āI 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 didnāt think people his age were thinking about sex.
āI might have been naive, it might have been some of the language barriers that I didnāt pick up details in their joking.ā
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.
āBut you should have had a system that picked up things like that,ā he said. āIt was before I was a manager that she went there.ā
He added: āIt is sad to hear she had those kind of experiences as a professional player.ā
The CEO of Women in Football (WIF) told the BBC there are āsignificant challengesā in the female football environment.
āIt 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,ā Yvonne Harrison said.
āFor players it is really important that they are protected, they are safeguarded and that their voices are first and foremost listened to ā and that is the same off the pitch as well.ā
The Justice for Harrods Survivors group said the abuse Gibbons had endured from Al Fayed was āyet another horrible example of the monstrous abuse aided and abetted by the businesses he ownedā.
They added: āWe salute our clientās 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-Fayedās abhorrent behaviour.ā
A spokesperson for Harrods said it was āutterly appalledā by the allegations of abuse perpetrated by Al Fayed.
It said: āThese were the actions of an individual who was intent on abusing his power wherever he operated and we condemn them in the strongest terms.
āWe also acknowledge that during this time his victims were failed and for this we sincerely apologise.ā
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