PSG player Hamraoui opens up about suffering horrible attack

Published Sep. 17, 2022 8:17 a.m. ET

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PARIS (AP) — Paris Saint-Germain player Kheira Hamraoui published photos of her injuries from the brutal attack that left her fearing for her career, saying Saturday she is still haunted by it “night and day" and that she endured horrid abuse online afterward.

Hamraoui was attacked last November following an evening out with her former PSG teammate Aminata Diallo and other teammates. Hamraoui was hit several times with a metal bar and needed stitches to her hands and legs.

“I will never forget that night of Nov. 4, 2021. It haunts me night and day. That dark night changed my personal and professional life, my life as a woman and as a footballer player,” Hamraoui wrote on Twitter. “That sad night when I thought I was going to die when two hooded men forced me to get out of the car. They pummeled me with iron bars, essentially aiming for my lower body."

The 32-year-old midfielder, who has played 39 times for France, posted photos of the injuries: a gruesome gash to the back of her right thigh and deep bruising around her left thigh and knee.

“Their objective was simple that night: to violently take my work tool by breaking my legs and ending my career,” Hamraoui continued, adding that terrible verbal abuse then began and left her in a state of perpetual anxiety.

“For long months after the assault, I was unfairly insulted on the (soccer) pitches, harassed on social networks and had my life threatened. Nevertheless, I held on with all my strength to my passion (of soccer) and to stay professional," she said. “Today I trust in the justice system for the truth to all come out and for my honor to be saved.”

Diallo was issued preliminary charges of “aggravated violence” and placed in custody in connection with the attack, French justice officials said on Friday. It was the second time Diallo was arrested as part of an investigation into the attack last year on Hamraoui. Diallo was taken into custody in November and released without charges.

Diallo’s questioning by police came after four men were arrested this week in connection with the attack.

Diallo was arrested on Friday morning and accused by the quartet of having set up the attack on her teammate in a bid to take her spot in the PSG team, the Versailles prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

Diallo has been without a club since her contract with PSG expired at the end of last season.

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