It’s the story of a brutal face-to-face encounter, that of a player against an institution. This Monday, the Paris industrial tribunal became the scene of Kheira Hamraoui’s final battle against his former club, Paris Saint-Germain. The former French international accuses the capital club of moral harassment and a failure to fulfill its security obligations after the terrible attack of which she was the victim in November 2021. A courageous approach, that of a woman who has decided to no longer remain silent and to take the fight to the legal level, whatever the cost.
Kheira Hamraoui, alone against everyone
And the least we can say is that Kheira Hamraoui does not tremble. The proof? The astronomical sums claimed: nearly 3.5 million euros in damages for moral damage, loss of opportunity and harassment. A colossal amount which testifies to the depth of his injury. Another sign of her determination, almost of a certain detachment: she did not even deign to appear in person at the hearing. Her lawyer explained that she was held back by her obligations in Saudi Arabia, where she had to go into exile to pursue her career. An absence which says a lot about the total break with his former life.
Before the judges, his lawyer, Me Pascal Garbarini, depicted a descent into hell. He recounted how his client, after her attack, was ostracized by part of the locker room, how certain teammates refused to pass the ball to her. He accused the club of having done everything to push her out, forcing her to train alone for months under the pretext of
” protect “, or by assigning her jersey number to another player. “Ms. Hamraoui’s career was destroyed”he pleaded.
PSG defends and counterattacks
The defense of PSG, provided by Me Louzier, was just as vigorous. The lawyer dismissed the accusations, affirming that the club had on the contrary done everything possible to support its player: 24-hour close security, psychological support, internal investigations… He recalled that the attack had taken place in the private sphere and that PSG had nevertheless become a civil party alongside its player. For the club, this legal action is motivated by only one thing: “You don’t ask for money because your employer is rich.”
Two narratives now oppose each other. That of a player who feels she has been abandoned and sacrificed on the altar of peace in a fractured locker room. And that of a club which claims to be a victim of its own wealth and which claims to have acted as a responsible employer. The industrial tribunal’s decision, whatever it may be, will be a resounding epilogue to one of the darkest affairs in modern French football.
