Former teammate re-arrested over assault on French football star: prosecutors

French police on Friday for the second time arrested a former team mate of Paris Saint Germain and national team player Kheira Hamraoui in the investigation into an assault against the football star that rocked the women's game in the country, prosecutors said.

The re-arrest of Aminata Diallo comes after four men were also detained this week in the probe into the attack on Hamraoui in November 2021 outside Paris.

Hamraoui was dragged from a car and beaten on the legs with an iron bar near the French capital.

Diallo, Hamraoui's team-mate and midfield rival, was detained by police immediately after the incident last November, but has always denied involvement and has never been charged.

The lawyer of Diallo, who is without a club after her PSG contract expired, declined to comment to AFP.

Taking into account last year's arrest, police have eight hours to question Diallo while in detention before a decision is taken on whether to press charges, prosecutors in Versailles outside Paris told AFP.

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Suspects can be held in France for 48 hours before being referred to a magistrate for charges to be pressed. Diallo's almost two-day arrest in November counts towards this total.

Three of the four men arrested earlier this week in the case will appear Friday before a magistrate with a view to being charged, the prosecutors said.

Hamraoui was assaulted on November 4 as she returned home from a club dinner in a car being driven by Diallo.

The two players, both capped by France, were competing for the same spot in the PSG team and police appeared to initially focus on a theory that sporting rivalry might explain the attack.