Revealed: Fulham women 'protected' players from late club owner Mohamed Al-Fayed as sexual assault allegations emerge

In a BBC documentary, several women accused Al-Fayed of raping them during their time working for high-end London department store Harrods, which the billionaire owned.

Gaute Haugenes, who managed the Fulham's women's team between 2001 and 2003, revealed that staff were aware that Al-Fayed "liked young blonde girls", leading to precautions being taken to protect the club's female players.

Al-Fayed spent 16 years as Fulham owner before selling the club in 2013, with the Egyptian-born businessman passing away last year at the age of 94. Allegations had surrounded Al-Fayed over his conduct as far back as 1997, however no charges were pressed while he was alive despite questioning from 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."

Lawyers representing Al Fayed's accusers told a news conference on Friday it was 'unlikely' there were not more alleged victims. Fulham said they were trying to establish whether anyone at the club had been affected and encouraged people to come forward to its safeguarding department or the police.