French international and Paris Saint-Germain footballer, Aminata Diallo, was arrested by police in Paris on Wednesday in connection with last week’s brutal attack on a teammate and national colleague, the football club announced. Diallo was returning from a PSG dinner with fellow midfielder Kheira Hamraoui last Thursday when gunmen attacked the two in their car, hitting Hamraoui with an iron bar.
Hamaraoui was absent from the PSG squad on Tuesday night in the Champions League match against Real Madrid, with Diallo playing in her place. “Paris Saint-Germain notes the arrest of Aminetta Diallo this morning by the SRPJ (police) in Versailles in connection with the ongoing investigation into the attacks on some players at the club on Thursday night,” PSG said in a statement.
A club source told AFP that 26-year-old Diallo was taken into custody by the assailants during the attack, but escaped unhurt. After winning the Champions League with Barcelona last year, the 31-year-old Hamaraoui returned to the PSG women’s team in the summer. After a two-and-a-half-year absence, she was recalled to the French national team in October, but retired due to an injury.
“Paris Saint-Germain strongly condemns the violence. Since Thursday evening, the club has taken all necessary measures to guarantee the health, welfare and safety of its entire women’s team. Paris Saint-Germain is working with the Versailles police to clarify the facts. The club pays special attention to the development of procedures and will study what measures to take.”
French station L’Equipe was the first to report the story, saying that Diallo had hired two masked men to attack teammate Kheira Hamraoui in a plot to time the game. According to the New York Times, Hamraoui was pulled from a car and kicked with metal bars.
Hamraoui was seriously injured, but did not break bones, the New York Times reported. Diallo made her PSG debut in a 4-0 win over Real Madrid in the UEFA Women’s Champions League on Tuesday. Versailles police said they were not providing any further information at this time.
