A former Ireland international and captain of Fulham Ladies football club has claimed she was sexually assaulted by Mohamed Al Fayed at Harrods.
Ronnie Gibbons was 20 when the then-Harrods and Fulham owner tried to “forcefully” kiss her before groping her in a room at the store on two occasions, she told The Athletic.
She won her first cap for Ireland in January 2000 at the age of 22.
Forty women have made complaints to the Metropolitan Police about Al Fayed.
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Police investigating 40 new allegations against Mohamed Al Fayed and others
These include allegations of rape and sexual assault between 1979 and 2013 and followed a BBC documentary last month, Al Fayed: Predator At Harrods, in which 20 female employees said he sexually assaulted or raped them.
Gibbons, now 44, has waived her right to anonymity to speak to The Athletic and claimed Al Fayed targeted her in the 2000/01 season.
She said she was summoned to visit Al Fayed twice at Harrods in Knightsbridge. On the first visit she claims he gave her chocolates and an envelope with £50 notes before trying to kiss her and groped her after forcing her to sit on his lap. She was also kissed and groped on a second visit, she claims.
Gibbons told The Athletic: “I was used… I just felt a huge responsibility on my shoulders because we’d just turned professional. 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.
Ronnie Gibbons of Fulham Ladies Football Club during a training session in 2001. Photo: Getty/Jamie McDonald/ALLSPORT
“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.”
Speaking to The Athletic, she said: “He pulled me in close and tried to kiss me on the mouth. He had his arms holding my arms, like at my side so I couldn’t push him away or anything like that. It was a real kind of control stance, like ‘I’m dominating you’.
“He held my arms, pulled me in and tried to kiss me on the mouth. I sort of moved my head so he could only kiss me on the cheek. I was wearing my Fulham tracksuit and just felt sweat instantly on the back of my neck. Just so uncomfortable, instantly. I kind of froze, I think.”
“I had blonde hair, I was slim, I was called the ‘David Beckham of women’s football’ … Everyone knew Fayed liked women or girls with blonde hair”
She said she had stepped forward to help her “heal” after years of torment.
Gibbons continued: “Speaking 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. If this can help one person open up and realise it’s not your fault and be free of the same burdens, then I’ll be happy.
“Helping to save the future generations is so important to me. This can’t happen in any environment. It’s not right. You are not alone and it’s not your fault.”
She told The Athletic that the Harrods owner used his financial hold over the team to target her. The pay cheques for the players came from Harrods.
Gibbons continued: “He held the purse strings, so everyone’s position was kind of in his hands.
“But it was quite common knowledge what he was like.
Ronnie Gibbons, Fulham (Photo by Jon Buckle/EMPICS via Getty Images)
“Even from the first time you met Mohamed Al Fayed, he was a bit touchy-feely, a bit of the dirty old man, that generational thing. You could get away with it more then. He would hug you a bit longer than he should. That’s how he got his kind of pleasure, those tiny little things.
“I had blonde hair, I was slim, I was called the ‘David Beckham of women’s football’ in the media… Everyone knew Fayed liked women or girls with blonde hair.”
Barrister Maria Mulla, who is representing a number of women claiming the former Harrods owner, previously said that although she was not yet aware of allegations of former Fulham employees, but investigations were ongoing.
She said: “Yes, we are aware of allegations that have been made at other places of work.
“We don’t at this stage represent any women who, for instance, sustained attacks at Fulham Football Club.
“But our investigations are obviously ongoing into all these entities that he had an involvement in.”