Fulham examine amid Al Fayed rape allegations

Premier League facet Fulham have stated they’re investigating whether or not anybody related to the membership has been an alleged sufferer of its late former proprietor Mohamed Al Fayed, who has been accused of raping and sexually abusing younger ladies.

Attorneys in Britain representing dozens of alleged victims have described Al Fayed, the previous boss of Harrods, as a “monster.”

The abuse went on via a lot of Al Fayed’s 25-year tenure — from 1985 on — on the helm of the world-renowned London division retailer, the attorneys stated. They spoke at a televised information convention in London within the wake of the BBC documentary “Al-Fayed: Predator At Harrods.”

Al Fayed owned Fulham between 1997 and 2013. The membership stated on Friday it’s “within the course of of creating whether or not anybody on the membership is, or has been, affected.”

“We’re deeply troubled and anxious to study of the disturbing reviews following yesterday’s documentary. We have now honest empathy for the ladies who’ve shared their experiences,” the club said in a statement.

It added: “We’re within the course of of creating whether or not anybody on the Membership is, or has been, affected. Ought to any individual want to share data or experiences relating to those allegations, we encourage them to contact the Membership, at [email protected], or the police.”

A four-member authorized workforce advised reporters they’ve been retained by 37 of Al Fayed’s accusers and had been within the technique of including extra purchasers, together with probably from different organizations that Al Fayed was concerned with.

Within the documentary, which was broadcast on Thursday, the Egypt-born Al Fayed who died final 12 months on the age of 94, was accused of raping no less than 5 ladies at his properties in London and Paris and of committing scores of different acts of assault and bodily violence, each in and out of doors of Harrods.

“We are going to say it plainly: Mohamed Al Fayed was a monster,” stated lead lawyer Dean Armstrong. “However he was a monster enabled by a system, a system that pervaded Harrods.”

Armstrong stated the case mixed “a few of the most horrific components” of instances corresponding to these involving Jimmy Savile, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein — well-known and highly effective males who had been capable of keep away from sexual abuse allegations for years earlier than their victims lastly got here ahead.

A few of Al Fayed’s accusers had been youngsters on the time of the abuse, with no less than one as younger as 15, in line with the BBC documentary.

London’s Metropolitan Police have stated they had been made conscious of allegations prior to now and had questioned Al Fayed in 2008 in reference to the sexual abuse of a 15-year-old however prosecutors on the time didn’t take the instances ahead.

There was additionally no remark from Al Fayed’s household.

Considered one of Al Fayed’s alleged victims spoke on the information convention. She was recognized solely as Natacha and stated the billionaire businessman was “extremely manipulative” and “preyed on probably the most susceptible, these of us who wanted to pay the hire and a few of us who did not have dad and mom to guard them.”

Natacha, who stated she joined Al Fayed’s workforce of non-public assistants on the age of 19, recounted being invited to his personal residence one night time “on the pretext of a job evaluate.” When she arrived, she stated she noticed the bed room door partially open with intercourse toys in view.

“I felt petrified. I perched myself on the very finish of the couch after which … Mohamed Al Fayed, my boss, the individual I labored for, pushed himself onto me,” she stated.

After kicking herself free, she stated Al Fayed threatened her.

“He laughed at me,” she stated. “He then composed himself and he advised me, in no unsure phrases, that I used to be by no means to breathe a phrase of this to anybody and that if I did, I’d by no means work in London once more and he knew the place my household lived.”

“I felt scared and sick,” she added.

In the UK, victims usually determine themselves by just one identify to guard their privateness. It wasn’t clear why Natacha gave just one identify whereas showing earlier than cameras, or if that was her actual first identify.

The Related Press doesn’t determine victims of sexually assault until they’ve come ahead and voluntarily recognized themselves. The workforce of attorneys couldn’t instantly be reached for remark.

Al Fayed moved to Britain within the Nineteen Sixties, after early investments in transport in Italy and the Center East, and began constructing an empire.

On the peak of his wealth, he owned the Ritz lodge in Paris and Fulham soccer membership. He moved in excessive circles in London however was by no means knighted. He turned a outstanding conspiracy theorist after the Paris crash that killed his son Dodi and Princess Diana in 1997.

Al Fayed offered Harrods in 2010 to an organization owned by the state of Qatar by way of its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Funding Authority.

In a press release to the BBC, the Harrods homeowners stated they had been “completely appalled” by the allegations of abuse however added that they had been solely made conscious of them final 12 months.

“Whereas we can’t undo the previous, now we have been decided to do the proper factor as a corporation, pushed by the values we maintain at the moment, whereas guaranteeing that such habits can by no means be repeated sooner or later,” the homeowners stated in a press release.

Armstrong dismissed Harrods’ declare that the homeowners knew nothing of the sexual allegations made in opposition to Al Fayed over a few years, citing a number of media reviews in recent times over allegations of sexual misconduct on the a part of Al Fayed. The BBC documentary stated no less than one alleged sufferer had signed a non-disclosure settlement.

“We’re right here to say publicly and to the world, or to Harrods in entrance of the world, that it’s time that they took accountability,” Armstrong stated. “That’s one thing they need to do as quickly as potential.”

U.S. lawyer Gloria Allred, who has represented victims in a few of the most infamous sexual abuse instances in recent times, together with these about abuse by Epstein, Weinstein and Invoice Cosby, additionally spoke and lambasted the tradition at Harrods throughout Al Fayed’s tenure.

“Harrods is sometimes called probably the most stunning retailer on the earth … many ladies dreamed of working there,” she stated. “Nevertheless, beneath the Harrods glitz and glamour was a poisonous, unsafe and abusive surroundings.”

Data from the Related Press contributed to this report.