Fulham 'protected' women's players from Al Fayed

A former manager of Fulham's women's team says extra precautions were put in place to protect 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 members of staff became aware that the late billionaire "liked young, blonde girls".

He said that as a result players were not allowed to be left alone with Al Fayed, who owned the club for 16 years.

On Friday, the Cottagers issued a statement saying they were "deeply troubled and concerned" by the "disturbing" reports about Al Fayed during his time as owner of Harrods.

In a BBC documentary, which aired on Thursday, several women accused Al Fayed of raping them when they worked at the luxury London department store.

Lawyers representing Al Fayed's accusers told a news conference in London on Friday it was "unlikely" there were not 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 bought Fulham for a reported £30m in 1997.

During his tenure as owner, the men's team rose from the third tier of English football to the Premier League.

He backed a move to make the women's team fully professional in 2000, the first side in Europe to do so, but they were downgraded to semi-professional in 2003 and funding was withdrawn in 2006.

Haugenes also said that he was paid by Harrods, rather than Fulham, during his time at the club.

"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 safeguarding@fulhamfc.com or the police."