Sport's Strangest Crimes

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Sport's Strangest Crimes Podcast

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When sport collides with true crime.

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  1. Introducing: A French Football Scandal

    EPISODE 1

    Introducing: A French Football Scandal

    Maisie Adam tells the shocking story of jealousy, deceit and a brutal attack on a Paris Saint-Germain player that turned team-mates into the bitterest enemies. Its a story that has gripped the French public since the arrest of PSG star Aminata Diallo in November 2021, suspected of ordering an attack on her team-mate and previously good friend, Kheira Hamraoui. The accusation was Diallo wanted Hamraoui's place in the PSG starting line-up and so instructed a group of masked men to intercept the two players on a car journey home together and then assault Hamraoui, targetting her legs. And this is exactly how events played out. Police investigations following the attack initially led them to Diallo's door although with too little evidence to charge her Diallo was released, presumed innocent. Instead the spotlight turned on the victim Hamraoui. Intimate details of her private life became public knowledge, including an affair with a married man who just happened to be a French football superstar. Diallo returned to play alongside Hamraoui back at PSG – and at this point life became hell for Hamraoui. Team-mates, opponents and even her own fans, acting in sympathy with Diallo, targeted her with vicious verbal abuse. It seemed everyone was against Hamraoui, including a controversial football agent, who would be accused of putting pressure on PSG to sell Hamraoui, and whose presence at training the player found intimidating. The PSG coach found himself caught up in the fall-out too, taking phone calls urging him to drop Hamraoui, and also receiving thinly-veiled threats if he didn't. He would end up in a fight to clear his name from terrible accusations. Then in September 2022, almost out of the blue, Daillo was re-arrested and this time the public prosecutor charged her. Statements from the men who carried out the attack identifying her as the mastermind along with months of secret phone surveillance convinced the police she was guilty. But is she? With the case still to come to trial this podcast presents the evidence and hears the opinions from those closest to the case, and those who think she's innocent, and those who think she's guilty. So you can decide for yourself.... Narrator Maisie Adam Interviews: Charlotte Harpur and Tom Williams Voices for interviewees performed by: Janine George, Chyna Johnson, Tom Roberts and Colin Ryan. Voice Artist audio recording: Thomas Hale at the Voiceover Gallery Translation for the Aminatta Diallo interview: Laura Bennett Script Consultant: Dave Bowler Researchers: Rob Carroll, John Harrison and Janet Hughes Assistant Producer: Jennifer Hanratty-Ball Editor: Kevin Hinde Assistant Commissioner for the BBC: Lizzi Doyle Commissioning Executive: Stevie Middleton Executive Producer: Craig South Writer and Producer: Jonathan Sides A PDI Media production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live

    1 min
  2. 1. What Happens In Zanzibar.....

    EPISODE 2

    1. What Happens In Zanzibar.....

    Maisie Adam introduces the story of a brutal attack at Paris Saint-Germain that turned close teammates into bitter rivals just months after a holiday in paradise together. Aminata Diallo and Kheira Hamraoui, both French international midfielders at PSG, one of the biggest clubs in world football, appeared to be the best of friends. In the summer of 2021 they spent a vacation together in Zanzibar on the coast of East Africa, ahead of the new season. Yet within months Diallo would be arrested, accused of involvement in organising an attack on Hamraoui that targeted her legs in a deliberate attempt to cause serious injury. So who is Aminata Diallo? And why do the police believe she is guilty? And who is Kheira Hamraoui? And why has she become a target to be attacked in this way? Was this assault motivated by jealousy and ruthless career ambition on the part of Diallo? Or is it connected to Hamraoui's soon-to-be-exposed private life? And could this even be a potential miscarriage of justice? The investigation starts here... With the case still to come to court this is the chance to hear evidence from those close to Diallo and Hamraoui – and make your own mind up. Like all good crime dramas, in this series we'll be examining the means, the motive and the opportunity. Narrator: Maisie Adam Interviews: Charlotte Harpur and Tom Williams Voices for interviewees performed by: Janine George, Chyna Johnson, Tom Roberts and Colin Ryan Researchers: Rob Carroll and Janet Hughes Assistant Producer: Jennifer Hanratty-Ball Editor: Kevin Hinde Assistant Commissioner for the BBC: Lizzi Doyle Commissioning Executive: Stevie Middleton Executive Producer: Craig South Writer and Producer: Jonathan Sides A PDI Media production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live.

    36 min
  3. 2. Attack and Defence

    EPISODE 3

    2. Attack and Defence

    Maisie Adam continues the incredible story of the organised hit on the French international footballer that took place in the leafy suburbs of Paris in November 2021. Despite a flying start to the season for the PSG's women's team there are the first rumblings of discontent and trouble behind the scenes. Head coach Didier Olle-Nicolle discovers Kheira Hamraoui in tears at the training ground and makes an alarming discovery about some mysterious and disturbing phonecalls made to her PSG team mates. Then a team bonding night out ends in the bloody and brutal beating of Hamraoui by a group of masked men. As the player reflects on what happened in the days that follow her suspicions about the involvement of a team mate begin to form. But surely it can't be her? Or can it? There are two sides to every story, more than one interpretation of every action and remember every crime needs means, motive and opportunity. So is everything as clear cut as it seems to Hamraoui? With passionately put arguments from the legal teams representing the victim and the accused, you'll have the chance to decide.... Narrator Maisie Adam Interviews: Charlotte Harpur and Tom Williams Voices for interviewees performed by: Janine George, Chyna Johnson, Tom Roberts and Colin Ryan Researchers: Rob Carroll and Janet Hughes Assistant Producer: Jennifer Hanratty-Ball Editor: Kevin Hinde Assistant Commissioner for the BBC: Lizzi Doyle Commissioning Executive: Stevie Middleton Executive Producer: Craig South Writer and Producer: Jonathan Sides A PDI Media production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live.

    41 min
  4. 3. Arrested Developments

    EPISODE 4

    3. Arrested Developments

    French international footballer Kheira Hamraoui is in shock after being dragged from the car of her PSG team-mate Aminata Diallo, and then having her legs beaten black and blue by a masked man. But who did it? And who planned it? And why? Diallo goes unscathed during the attack, and takes her injured team-mate's place in the team to face Real Madrid in the Champions League. Playing a key role in a comprehensive 4-0 win life seems good for Diallo, with the extended run she'd craved now looking very likely. Until 6am the following morning that is - and an unexpected visit from the police..... Diallo goes from a rocking, euphoric Parc des Princes to a miserable, foul-smelling cell at Versailles jail in a matter of hours. With echoes of the infamous fall out between American ice skaters Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan, the world's media pick up on the story, and two relatively little known footballers are about to acquire the worst possible notoriety. Professional rivalry, jealousy, the desire to take a team-mate's place for both club and country is considered as a motive. But the players' private lives also come under scrutiny and investigators unearth a secret affair between Hamraoui and a married male ex-French football superstar, which becomes public knowledge – and with devastating consequences. As Diallo is released without charge, but not without suspicion, Hamraoui is now subject to the full glare of media scrutiny and online judgement and abuse. Her personal nightmare is only just beginning. Narrator Maisie Adam Interviews: Charlotte Harpur and Tom Williams Voices for interviewees performed by: Janine George, Chyna Johnson, Tom Roberts and Colin Ryan Script consultant: Dave Bowler Researchers: Rob Carroll and Janet Hughes Assistant Producer: Jennifer Hanratty-Ball Editor: Kevin Hinde Assistant Commissioner for the BBC: Lizzi Doyle Commissioning Executive: Stevie Middleton Executive Producer: Craig South Writer and Producer: Jonathan Sides A PDI Media production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live.

    40 min
  5. 4. War in the Dressing Room

    EPISODE 5

    4. War in the Dressing Room

    With one player attacked and another player under suspicion of being involved in it, the return of both Kheira Hamraoui, the victim, and Aminata Diallo, the accused, to the PSG was never going to be straight forward. Particularly as Diallo had close friends in the squad who felt a raging sense of injustice for their team-mate, who had faced the humiliation of arrest and 36 hours in jail before being released without charge. And so it proved. The man tasked with trying to juggle and mend these fractured relationships was head coach Didier Olle-Nicolle. And what a time he had with a training regime to test his patience, his diplomacy skills - and his fitness. For Hamraoui it was a brutal time. Not only facing hostility in her own dressing room, she also had to contend with abuse from her own club's supporters, as well as opposiition players making spiteful comments. Into this toxic atmosphere emerged Cesar Mavacala, a controversial figure in French football, who, although not an official agent, represented the interests of several of PSG's top players. A call out of the blue from Mavacala to Olle-Nicolle set in motion a chain of events that would ultimately have terrible repercussions, as he positioned himself firmly in support of Diallo and against Hamraoui. Narrator Maisie Adam Interviews: Charlotte Harpur and Tom Williams Voices for interviewees performed by: Janine George, Chyna Johnson, Tom Roberts and Colin Ryan Researchers: Rob Carroll and Janet Hughes Assistant Producer: Jennifer Hanratty-Ball Editor: Kevin Hinde Assistant Commissioner for the BBC: Lizzi Doyle Commissioning Executive: Stevie Middleton Executive Producer: Craig South Writer and Producer: Jonathan Sides A PDI Media production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live.

    41 min
  6. 5. Fighting Talk

    EPISODE 6

    5. Fighting Talk

    Maisie Adam continues the shocking story of a brutal attack at Paris Saint-Germain that turned close team-mates into bitter rivals, damaging lives, careers and reputations. The fragile harmony in the dressing room is finally and irrevocably broken with a training ground bust-up that has repercussions for the team in the Champions League. And pushes the embattled Kheira Hamraoui to breaking point. Meanwhile head coach Didier Olle-Nicolle who has continued to select Hamraoui for the team despite external pressures to drop her, finds himself at the centre of serious allegations of sexual misconduct involving a young PSG player. Suspended by the club while a formal investigation takes place a horrified and shocked Olle Nicolle must fight to clear his name. The claims against him are subsequently proved untrue and without any basis whatsoever but its a harrowing time for him, describing himself as “collateral damage” in the latest fall-out from the Diallo-Hamraoui affair. The two players themselves are both about to experience summers of discontent. For Diallo its the end of the road at PSG, a new contract failing to materialise. While for Hamraoui it soon becomes apparent she faces an uncertain, and for her an unhappy future at the club. There appears to be no end to her trials and tribulations. As the 2022/23 season starts Hamraoui is in near exile at the club, training alone away from the first team. For Diallo though she is effectively now unemployed, without a club, at the age where she should be approaching her peak playing days. But that is not the worst of her troubles. Because on the 16th September 2022 there's another knock at her door from the poilce and this time they have statements and wiretaps to back up their suspicions. She's arrested again – and this time charges will be made. Narrator Maisie Adam Interviews: Charlotte Harpur and Tom Williams Voices for interviewees performed by: Janine George, Chyna Johnson, Tom Roberts and Colin Ryan Translation for the Aminata Diallo interview: Laura Bennett Script consultant: Dave Bowler Researchers: Rob Carroll and Janet Hughes Assistant Producer: Jennifer Hanratty-Ball Editor: Kevin Hinde Assistant Commissioner for the BBC: Lizzi Doyle Commissioning Executive: Stevie Middleton Executive Producer: Craig South Writer and Producer: Jonathan Sides A PDI Media production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live.

    35 min
  7. 6. The Hitmen and Her

    EPISODE 7

    6. The Hitmen and Her

    Police wiretaps capture incendiary, and potentially incriminating conversations and whatsapp messages, while statements from the group of men accused of carrying out the attack on Kheira Hamraoui name the mastermind. Its the most shocking development yet as the police return to the home of Diallo to re-arrest her – and this time she appears before an investigative judge and is charged with three counts of aggravated assault and criminal conspiracy. Meanwhile selected details gleaned from the secret surveillance of her phone and Diallo's personal electronic devices find their way to the media, each revealing a range of explosive exortations and some very dubious internet searches. While parts of the leaked psychiatric reports and psychological profiling of Diallo also add to an unfavourable picture. But is everything as it seems? Diallo's lawyers and her close friend Shaheen Malik offer their defences of each and every accusation and revelation. While the Versailles public prosecutor Maryvonne Caillibotte shines a light on the processes and evidence that led them back to Diallo's door. So you can play the part of judge and jury as you'll hear the case from all sides. Narrator Maisie Adam Interviews: Charlotte Harpur and Tom Williams Voices for interviewees performed by: Janine George, Chyna Johnson, Tom Roberts and Colin Ryan Translation for the Aminata Diallo interview: Laura Bennett Script consultant: Dave Bowler Researchers: Rob Carroll and Janet Hughes Assistant Producer: Jennifer Hanratty-Ball Editor: Kevin Hinde Assistant Commissioner for the BBC: Lizzi Doyle Commissioning Executive: Stevie Middleton Executive Producer: Craig South Writer and Producer: Jonathan Sides A PDI Media production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live.

    38 min
  8. 7. An Unhappy Ending

    EPISODE 8

    7. An Unhappy Ending

    Maisie Adam continues the astonishing story that has rocked women's football in France. Its the aftermath of the arrest of Aminata Diallo, she and her lawyers contest the bail terms to allow her to continue her football career abroad. Kheira Hamraoui, meanwhile, so long the target of acrimonious abuse for supposedly unfairly leading the police to Diallo's door for the original arrest, is suddenly viewed in a more sympathetic light. The public, the fans and the players, or at least those who called her, are all now given good cause to reflect on their actions. Having looked to be on her way out at PSG, Hamraoui's determination to fight for her place at PSG pays off as she not only returns to the first team, but plays well enough to earn a recall to the French squad just months ahead of the World Cup. However, in another twist, something close to mutiny breaks out in the player ranks of the national team, and there are suggestions its partly connected to the Diallo-Hamraoui affair. Then at the end of the season comes the decision by PSG not to renew her contract. For Hamraoui its the final blow in what has been a harrowing 18 months for her. For both players now its the agonising wait for a trial date, although both are looking for very diiferent kinds of closure. Defence and prosecution make their final summaries and the scene is set for the last episode and an exclusive interview with the accused, Animata Diallo. Narrator Maisie Adam Interviews: Charlotte Harpur and Tom Williams Voices for interviewees performed by: Janine George, Chyna Johnson, Tom Roberts and Colin Ryan Translation for the Aminata Diallo interview: Laura Bennett Script consultant: Dave Bowler Researchers: Rob Carroll and Janet Hughes Assistant Producer: Jennifer Hanratty-Ball Editor: Kevin Hinde Assistant Commissioner for the BBC: Lizzi Doyle Commissioning Executive: Stevie Middleton Executive Producer: Craig South Writer and Producer: Jonathan Sides A PDI Media production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live.

    32 min
See All Season 8 (18)

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When sport collides with true crime.

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