19 June 2023 , 11:22
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Fulham football star Issa Diop has been released without charge after being arrested in France following an accusation of 'making death threats' towards his ex-partner in a row over ‘divorce payments’.
The 26-year-old Frenchman was reportedly arrested at the Pullman Hotel, in his home city of Toulouse, on Sunday following complaints by the woman. 'He is suspected of having repeatedly threatened his partner, aged 29, whom he is separating from,' an official source told the local Depeche newspaper.
'Their divorce, which began months ago, is taking place in a climate of conflict,' the source added. The alleged victim is said to have claimed 'large sums of money that Issa Diop would not be ready to pay her.'
On Monday afternoon a spokesperson for Toulouse prosecutors said: “The suspect has been released. There is no case to answer.”
The woman filed a complaint last week, but investigators had to wait until the weekend to arrest Diop, when he arrived from the UK. A local police spokesman said Diop, who used to play for Toulouse and West Ham, had been in custody at the city’s Central Police Commiserate.
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A Fulham spokesperson said in a statement: "We are aware of reports emanating from France this morning regarding one of our players, Issa Diop. We are currently liaising with the player's representatives to establish the facts."
Diop was born in France to a Senegalese father and a Moroccan mother. He started his football career at Toulouse FC, before signing for West Ham, and then transferring to Fulham last August for a fee of around £15m. He played 29 games in all competitions for Fulham last season, helping them finish tenth in the Premier League.
Diop made 29 appearances in all competitions for Fulham last season (Getty Images)It was an impressive campaign for the Cottagers, who had only just been promoted back to the top flight from the Championship. "It's been brilliant. No doubt about it, the season has been fantastic for this football club when everyone expected us to be the first ones to go down," manager Marco Silva said when reflecting on Fulham's season.
"We heard a lot of things at the beginning of the season that there was no chance for Fulham and that we were the favourites to go down. The reality is that we did really well. We finished top half of the table, and in some months of the season, we even expected to fight for something more, but probably for the first season in the Premier League, it was too difficult.
"We have to keep taking the right steps in the right time but, of course, it is a brilliant season. And more important than the position we finished in the table, was the way we did it. This is much more important for me, because we kept our identity, kept our philosophy, played the same type of football.
"That, for me, is important to see my team play, and this is much more important than just finishing 10th or ninth or 11th. We did it in our style, in our way, and it made me proud."