Mo Farah accused of ‘punching and kicking’ woman by Haile Gebrselassie as ‘robbery’ row escalates
Speaking to newspaper reporters ahead of Sunday’s London Marathon, Farah had earlier criticised Gebrselassie over an alleged robbery in a hotel owned by the retired Ethiopian
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Haile Gebrselassie has escalated his extraordinary war of words with Sir Mo Farah by claiming Farah “punched and kicked” a husband and wife during a stay in his Ethiopian hotel. The double Olympic champion has said Farah had an altercation at the hotel gym with a married couple.
Speaking to newspaper reporters ahead of Sunday’s London Marathon, Farah had earlier criticised Gebrselassie over an alleged robbery in a hotel owned by the retired Ethiopian in which he claims he had a watch, two phones and money stolen. But Gebrselassie says several witnesses saw four-time Olympic champion Farah clash with the husband and wife in the gym at the hotel.
“Farah said to him: ‘Why are you following me?”’ Gebrselassie told the Guardian. “The guy said he wasn’t – and that he was just doing his work. Immediately Farah punched them and kicked them by foot. Especially the husband. There were lots of witnesses.”
Farah disputes all the allegations, and will argue he acted in self-defence after being attacked by a women with dumbbells, according to Sportsmail.
The row comes after he claimed he had £2,600 in cash in four currencies stolen, as well as a TAG watch and two mobile phones.
Farah said Gebrselassie did not return his messages about the incident, and said: “I just want him to take responsibility for getting my stuff back. It’s a hotel’s responsibility to be able to get it back. You pay for each night – you’re not getting it free.”
A spokesperson for Farah has since claimed the allegations are a deflection tactic from Gebrselassie.
In a statement, the spokesperson said: “Mo is disappointed with this statement and the continued reluctance by the hotel and its owner to take responsibility for this robbery.
“Mo disputes all of these claims which are an effort to distract from the situation, where members of his hotel staff used a room key and stole money and items from Mo Farah’s room (there was no safe as it was faulty, and Mo requested a new one).
“Police reports confirm the incident and the hotel admitted responsibility and were in contact with Mo’s legal advisor.
“The hotel even offered to pay Mo the amount stolen, only to withdraw the offer when he prematurely left the hotel and moved to other accommodation, due to security concerns.
“Despite many attempts to discuss this issue privately with Mr Gebrselassie, he did not respond but now that he has, we would welcome him or his legal team getting in touch so that this matter can be resolved.”
Gebrselassie claimed that Farah declined the use of a safety deposit box and said five members of hotel staff had been detained by police investigating the “unproven” robbery for three weeks before being released.
PA
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments