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L'EQUIPE

L'Équipe is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sports, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury.
photo of Kheira Hamraoui kicking a soccer ball
Society
Jane Herbelin

Attack On French Women's Soccer Star Is Not A Replay Of Tonya Harding

Kheira Hamraoui and Aminata Diallo are not Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding, the two U.S. figure skating rivals at the center of a soap opera-like attack in the 1990s. For starters, the two French midfielders are longtime friends. Still, while Diallo was released from custody, questions remain about possible involvement in the similar iron-bar assault on Hamraoui's legs.

PARIS — In the world of top-flight French women's soccer, Nov. 18 will be an important day. That's when French national team coach Corinne Diacre announces which players have been selected for the upcoming qualifying matches for the next World Cup.

On paper, Kheira Hamraoui and Aminata Diallo, two-star midfielders of the Paris St.-Germain (PSG) club team are more than worthy of consideration for the national team, for which each has played in the past. But on the field on Friday for their club practice in Paris, neither player was present.

Hamraoui is recovering from injuries to her legs sustained last week in an attack, and Diallo was just released from police custody without charges after being questioned in the case of the assault, which has been roiling the world of French sports the past week.

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