A former Fulham women’s team manager has revealed that additional measures were taken to safeguard female players from the club’s late owner, Mohamed Al Fayed.
Gaute Haugenes, who managed the team from 2001 to 2003, told the BBC that staff became aware of the late billionaire’s preference for “young, blonde girls.”
As a precaution, Haugenes said players were never allowed to be alone with Al Fayed, who owned the club for 16 years.
On Friday, Fulham issued a statement expressing their deep concern over the “disturbing” allegations about Al Fayed during his ownership of Harrods.
In a BBC documentary that aired on Thursday, several women accused Al Fayed of rape during their time working at the luxury London department store.
Lawyers representing the accusers told a press conference in London on Friday that it is “unlikely” there aren’t more alleged victims.
“We don’t at this stage represent any women who, for instance, sustained any attacks at Fulham Football Club but our investigations are obviously ongoing into all of these entities that he had an involvement in,” barrister Maria Mulla said.
“It’s highly unlikely that there are not victims out there from these other places of work. Wherever he went, there will be victims.”
Fulham said they were trying to establish whether anyone at the club had been affected, encouraging people to come forward to its safeguarding department or the police.
“I read all the newspapers yesterday of course and to be honest it’s not the biggest surprise,” Haugenes said.
“We were aware he liked young, blonde girls. So we just made sure that situations couldn’t occur. We protected the players.”
Al Fayed acquired Fulham in 1997 for a reported £30 million.
Under his ownership, the men’s team progressed from the third tier of English football to the Premier League.
In 2000, he supported the decision to make the women’s team fully professional, making it the first in Europe to achieve that status. However, the team was downgraded to semi-professional in 2003, and financial backing was withdrawn in 2006.
Haugenes also revealed that during his time at Fulham, he was paid by Harrods rather than the club itself.
“When the payslip came from Harrods it was quite strange. Also, the contract said that they could put me in the food shop in Dublin if that was what I wanted. It would never have happened today,” he said.
In response, Fulham referred to their earlier statement, which said: “We are deeply troubled and concerned to learn of the disturbing reports following yesterday’s documentary. We have sincere empathy for the women who have shared their experiences.
“We are in the process of establishing whether anyone at the club is, or has been, affected.
“Should any person wish to share information or experiences relating to these allegations, we encourage them to contact the club at [email protected] or the police.”