Australian soccer star Mary Fowler’s claim of a racist farewell gesture from her former French club has sparked a fierce denial and threat of legal action from the team.
The Manchester City forward detailed the alleged incident in her autobiography, "Bloom," stating she and a Black teammate received bananas instead of the customary flowers when leaving Montpellier in 2022.
Fowler, 22, recounted that other departing players were given flowers after the last game of the season. She and teammate Ashleigh Weerden were presented with bananas.
"When we entered the locker room, some of our teammates questioned why we hadn’t received flowers," Fowler wrote in an excerpt widely reported by English media. "Some of them started laughing and another player approached us and handed us bananas. ‘Take these,’ she said."
Fowler continued, "Not receiving flowers was one thing, but being two of the six Black girls on the team, receiving bananas was not something I could simply ignore. Was it an accident? Was it the only thing in the locker room she could give us? Did she do it with good intention?"
Montpellier has strongly refuted Fowler’s allegations of racism and stated it intends to pursue legal action.
The club issued a statement asserting that Fowler and her teammate were still under contract until June 30, 2023, at the time of the match on June 1, 2022.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Montpellier Feminine will be filing a complaint against Mary Fowler for her recent comments in her autobiography. <a href="https://t.co/fQ1W3yJ6qB">pic.twitter.com/fQ1W3yJ6qB</a></p>— Kantele (KanteleFM) <a href="https://twitter.com/KanteleFM/status/1782297120689404285?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
"From a purely factual point of view, the truth leaves no room for interpretation," the club’s statement read. It detailed that only players whose contracts were expiring were traditionally honored with a bouquet of flowers.
"Therefore, it would have been quite inappropriate for the club to offer them a ‘farewell gift’," the statement concluded, defending its actions.
<img src="https://images.Blaze Trends/images/2024-04/social/2493392_764x410_original.webp" alt="Mary Fowler denounces racism at Montpellier" width="100%" height="auto">