Paris Saint-Germain women’s soccer player arrested in attack on teamate

A player on the Paris Saint-Germain women’s soccer team has been arrested by police in France in connection with an attack on one of her teammates, the club said.

Midfielder Aminata Diallo, 26, was taken into police custody Wednesday morning as part of an investigation “following an assault last Thursday evening against the club’s players,” according to a statement from the team. The club did not name the player injured.

“Paris Saint-Germain condemns in the strongest possible terms the violence committed. Since the evening of Thursday, Nov. 4, the club has taken all the necessary measures to guarantee the health, well-being and safety of its players,” the club said in a statement. 

The arrest came one day after Diallo replaced her injured teammate Kheira Hamraoui for the Champions League game against Real Madrid.

French sports newspaper L’Equipe was the first to report the arrest was in connection to a violent attack against Hamraoui, a PSG midfielder, on Nov. 4. 

After a team dinner organized by PSG, Hamraoui was in a car driven by Diallo when two masked men appeared around 10:30 p.m., pulled her from the passenger seat and allegedly hit her in the legs with an iron bar, the newspaper reported. The assault lasted a few minutes, then the attackers fled, according to L’Equipe, citing sources familiar with the incident.

Hamraoui, 31, suffered injures to both of her legs and hands in the attack, according to the paper.

“PSG is working closely with the Versailles SRPJ (Service Régional de Police Judiciaire) to shed light on the facts,” the club said, adding it will deliberate what action to take. 

The incident is an echo to the 1994 Tonya Harding scandal.

In January 1994, Harding’s ex-husband Jeff Gillooly orchestrated an attack on her skating rival Nancy Kerrigan, who was hit in the legs with a baton and forced to withdraw from the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Harding ended up winning the competition.

She pleaded guilty to conspiracy to hinder prosecution in March 1994 in the case and Gillooly was sentenced to prison. Harding was banned for life from the U.S. Figure Skating Association in June 1994.