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.
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 Fayed, but Fulham had not been implicated in his alleged abuse until The Athletic’s reporting.
“If you ask me, I feel first as a human being, and of course as a manager,” Silva said on Friday in response to Gibbons’ story. “Sad news, it is really sad for me, I think for all of us to listen to her.
“As Fulham manager, definitely as a football club, all our empathy is with the situation. We are against all these types of things, all these types of abuse, clearly.
“Now, they have to investigate something more, to go through the situation. As a club, we are sad about everything, all the empathy as well, and that’s it really. I can’t say nothing more.”
Asked whether the allegations tarnished the history of the club, Silva acknowledged that the situation was now “more about ourselves”.
“Fifteen or 20 days ago, when the media (first) said there was something supposedly involved with the former owner, it was not something about the club, it was about something else,” he said. “But now, we’re talking about a former captain, and of course it’s much more about ourselves.
“All of us feel it, it is really sad to listen to it, and we all feel something. As a human being, you have to be completely against the situation. We’re talking about something that happened probably 25 years ago, it’s not something that happened last year or two years ago, but it’s sad anyway.
“You have to be all together again to show all the empathy and everything we can do to support the people involved, we have to do as a football club, and the other questions we need to ask.”
- Al Fayed accused of sexually assaulting Fulham Ladies captain at Harrods: ‘I was used’
In a statement updated on Friday morning, 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 [email protected].”
Justice for Harrods Survivors — the barristers Dean Armstrong KC, Bruce Drummond, Maria Mulla — also released the following statement in response to The Athletic’s report.
“What former Fulham captain Ronnie Gibbons was forced to endure at the hands of Mohamed Al-Fayed is yet another horrible example of the monstrous abuse aided and abetted by the businesses he owned. We salute our client’s 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-Fayed’s abhorrent behaviour.
“We will have more to say on Fulham Football Club next week. Anyone who thinks they may have been impacted in a similar way can contact our team at www.harrodssurvivors.com or call us on +44(0)2034680493.”
Whatever you’re going through, you can call the Samaritans in the UK free any time, from any phone, on 116 123. Click here to contact them from the U.S.
(Top photo: David Rogers/Getty Images)
