The drama that’s been surrounding likely relegation-bound Fulham keeps getting juicier, as an argument over a missed penalty kick that happened nearly a month ago has since spiraled into an arrest. On Monday, striker Aboubakar Kamara was reportedly arrested on suspicion of actual bodily harm and criminal damage after an altercation with a Fulham staff member at the club’s training ground.
It all began during a 1-0 Fulham win over also-terrible Huddersfield back on Dec. 29, when with the game scoreless in the 82nd minute Kamara took the ball away from the club’s designated PK taker, Aleksandar Mitrovic, and tried to score the penalty himself. Kamara missed, and Mitrovic had to score the winner in stoppage time to secure three points.
After the game, Fulham manager Claudio Ranieri was absolutely furious with Kamara.
“He did not respect me, the club, team-mates and crowd. I spoke with him, it is not right,” Ranieri said to the BBC.
“It is unbelievable what he did,” Ranieri added. “I wanted to kill him.”
Ranieri did not go on to commit murder, but he appears to be rid of Kamara anyway. Weeks later, Kamara and Mitrovic still apparently hadn’t buried the hatchet, and their tensions reportedly led to an altercation during a team yoga lesson, where they had to be separated by teammates.
“Last week’s ruck broke out when Mitrovic felt Kamara had been rude to the yoga teacher,” noted British tabloid The Sun.
Kamara, who hasn’t played for Fulham since New Year’s Day, was then reportedly demoted to practicing with the under-23s, as the club looked to move him elsewhere during the January transfer window. Before that could happen, however, Kamara reportedly showed up at the club’s training ground and caused a ruckus that led to him getting arrested. Via The Telegraph:
It is believed that Kamara clashed with a Fulham member of staff on Monday evening after arriving at the Motspur Park training ground with the intent of resolving his future with senior figures at the club.
Metropolitan police confirmed that they were called to the training ground, and had arrested a man in his 20s on suspicion of actual bodily harm and criminal damage. A statement released by Fulham did not name names, but said, “The subject who was arrested is banned indefinitely from Motspur Park and all club activities.”
That ban makes sense, but here’s an alternative proposal: Fulham doesn’t look like they’ll pull out anything worthwhile this season before dropping out of the Premier League. Why not keep Kamara in the team, play him alongside Mitrovic, then sell the documentary rights? It’d surely be a thousand times more entertaining than any of the club’s remaining fixtures.