French soccer player Aminata Diallo arrested for alleged attack on teammate
Diallo, a former Utah Royals player, was taken into police custody by the Versailles Regional Police Service early Wednesday.
Soccer player Aminata Diallo was arrested this week following an alleged attack on one of her teammates.
According to CNN, Diallo, a 26-year-old midfielder for Paris Saint-Germain and the French national team, was taken into police custody by the Versailles Regional Police Service early Wednesday, confirmed by a statement from her football club.
Diallo played in America briefly, in service to the Utah Royals football club. The Salt Lake Tribune notes that she joined the team “on loan” from PSG in March 2020. She played in three games and started in one game of the 2020 National Women’s Soccer League Challenge Cup in Herriman, Utah.
French newspaper L’Equipe first reported Diallo’s arrest in connection with the violent Nov. 4 attack on 31-year-old Kheira Hamraoui, also a PSG midfielder. The L’Equipe article was translated by NBC News.
“Paris Saint-Germain condemns in the strongest possible terms the violence committed,” the team’s statement read.
“Since Thursday evening the Club has taken all necessary measures to guarantee the health, well-being, and safety of its entire women’s team,” officials for Diallo’s current overseas squad said. “Paris Saint-Germain is working with the Versailles Police to clarify the facts. The Club is paying close attention to the progress of the proceedings and will study what action to take.”
The assault reportedly occurred after a team dinner. Hamraoui was a passenger in a car driven by Diallo, when two masked men appeared and pulled the victim from the vehicle, striking her legs and hands with an iron bar.
Diallo went on to replace Hamraoui in a European Champions League game earlier this week. The Paris Saint-Germain team won 4-0 over Real Madrid in the match on Tuesday.
The incident is reminiscent of the attack on figure skater Nancy Kerrigan before the Olympic trials in 1994. Skating hopeful Tonya Harding pleaded guilty to hindering the investigation into the assault on Kerrigan, which was orchestrated by Harding’s husband, Jeff Gillooly.
Harding was subsequently banned for life from competing in U.S. figure skating. I, Tonya, a movie about her life and the crime against Kerrigan, was released in 2017 starring Margot Robbie, a mockumentary-style dark comedy about the disgraced skating star.
In 2018, Allison Janney won Best Supporting Actress at the 90th Academy Awards for her portrayal of Harding’s abusive mother, LaVona Golden.
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