Fulham head coach Marco Silva has expressed his sadness after his club’s former women’s captain, Ronnie Gibbons, came forward to allege she was sexually assaulted on two occasions by then-owner Mohamed Al Fayed, saying “our empathy is with the situation”.
Gibbons, now 44, waived her anonymity to tell The Athletic how Al Fayed, who died in 2023 aged 94, twice invited her to his offices at Harrods during the 2000-01 season, when Fulham Ladies first became a professional team.
Gibbons accused Al Fayed of having “forcefully kissed” and “groped” her after she was forced to meet him alone on the pretence of speaking to his children about football. On the second occasion, she says she was forced to bang on the door to get out.
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Mohamed Al Fayed accused of sexually assaulting Fulham Ladies captain at Harrods
Al Fayed owned Fulham between 1997 and 2013 and sold Harrods in 2010 for a reported £1.5bn.
Forty women have complained to the Metropolitan Police about Al Fayed, including making claims of rape and sexual assault between 1979 and 2013, since a BBC documentary last month, Al Fayed: Predator At Harrods, in which 20 female employees said he sexually assaulted or raped them.
Police have started “contacting representatives of other organisations linked to” Al…
