PSG teammate attack saga: Diallo denies involvement

Paris Saint-Germain women’s footballer Aminata Diallo on Friday denied any involvement in a street attack on her teammate Kheira Hamraoui, in her first public statement about an incident that has shaken the Qatar-owned club.

Diallo was driving fellow midfielder Hamraoui home on Thursday evening last week near Paris after dinner when her car was stopped by two masked men.

They dragged Hamraoui out and beat her with a metal bar on her legs, meaning she was unable to play this week in PSG’s Champions League clash with Real Madrid.

Diallo was detained by police at her home on Wednesday and held for nearly 35 hours before being released without charge, with investigators looking into whether on-field rivalry might explain the violence.

Diallo “hopes that judicial authorities conclude their investigation quickly and is sure that this will end up showing her complete and total innocence,” a statement issued by her lawyer said on Friday.

The statement denounced a “totally artificial suggestion of a rivalry between her and Mme Kheira Hamraoui that would explain why she would target her teammate. This theory does not reflect at all the reality of their relationship.”

French media reported that Hamraoui had raised the alarm about Diallo when she filed a police complaint about the attack, highlighting the unusual route taken by her teammate and the slow speed of their vehicle when the attackers sprang out.

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A man already in jail over a separate assault case in the southeastern city of Lyon  a friend of Diallo’s  was also arrested as part of the investigation before he too was released without charge on Thursday evening.

A verdict is expected on November 24.