Ex-Fulham Ladies captain Ronnie Gibbons says she was assaulted twice by Mohamed Al Fayed

Gibbons, who skippered Fulham in the 2000-01 season, alleged Al Fayed - chairman of the west London club between 1997 and 2013 - assaulted her in an office at the Harrods department store he owned in Knightsbridge.

Lawyers representing Gibbons told PA she has waived her anonymity, using an interview with The Athletic to say she felt she could not speak out about the abuse at the time for fear of jeopardising the future of the women’s team.

She 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.

“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.”

On both occasions she alleges was attacked, Gibbons said she was told she had to go to see Al Fayed, and was driven from the club’s training ground to Harrods by a member of club staff. The pretext both times was that Al Fayed’s children wanted to talk to her about football.

The Justice For Harrods Survivors group said in a statement: “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.”

A statement from Fulham said: “We 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.

“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].”