\n
French football club Montpellier has denied allegations of racism by Australian forward Mary Fowler, who claimed a teammate gave her a banana as a retirement gift in 2022.<\/p>\n
Montpellier said in a statement on Thursday that it had found “to our surprise a number of the accusations” made by Ms. Fowler in her memoir, Bloom, and said there was no evidence to support her claims.<\/p>\n
“Some of them are particularly serious and any shortcut to portraying the club as a racist entity is unacceptable,” Montpellier said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Fowler was 17 when he joined Montpellier in 2020 and played for two and a half seasons before leaving for Manchester City.<\/p>\n
Fowler wrote in his book that he and teammate Ashley Weirden were unable to attend the presentation to departed players who were presented with flowers after the final home game of the season.<\/p>\n
“When I went into the changing room afterwards, I wondered why some of my teammates hadn’t received the flowers,” Fowler wrote, according to excerpts from his book cited by Australian media.<\/p>\n
“We just shrugged it off, as clueless as they were. Some of the girls laughed at that. Then one of the other players came over and handed my friend and I bananas and said, ‘Here, eat this.'” That was the cherry on top.<\/p>\n
“My friend and I have talked about that moment several times since I left Montpellier,” she added. \u201cNot receiving flowers was one thing, but as two of only six black girls on the team, receiving bananas was not something I could laugh about and forget.\u201d<\/p>\n
Montpellier said it may take legal action and proposed a different version of events.<\/p>\n
“From a purely factual point of view, the truth is not open to interpretation,” the club said. \u201cOn June 1, 2022, the women’s team played their last home match against Bordeaux. At the end of the match, as has been customary for the last few seasons, bouquets of flowers were presented to the two players whose contracts were expiring and therefore the last to wear the club colors. This was not the case for Mary Fowler or any of the teammates mentioned in her book, both of whom were still under contract with the club until 30 June.”It would therefore have been rather inappropriate for the club to offer them a “parting gift”. \u201d<\/p>\n
Regarding the alleged incident in the dressing room, the club said it had consulted with those present on the day and concluded there was no evidence to support Fowler’s explanation.<\/p>\n
“Had this type of incident been reported and substantiated, the club would have taken all necessary measures as soon as it was brought to its attention,” Montpellier said. “Racism is a serious issue and must not be exploited. The club would like to reiterate its daily commitment to combating discrimination in all its forms.”<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
AP Soccer: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/soccer<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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