Former England Women defender Alex Scott has recalled her terrifying experience of an Uber driver who attempted to kidnap her and threatened to kill her in Russia.
Scott enjoyed a successful spell with Arsenal Women and frequently appeared for England Women before she called it time on her professional career.
The 38-year-old former right-back successfully transitioned to punditry and frequently appeared on the BBC to share her analysis.
Scott has since covered major international tournaments for men’s football, including the World Cup and European Championships.
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During her time working with the BBC at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the ex-Arsenal Women star endured a frightening ordeal on one occasion.
Speaking in her autobiography ‘How (Not) To Be Strong,’ Scott revealed how she would usually use pre-booked cars for any work trips as part of security protocols.
However, things took an ugly turn when she organised an Uber for a 15-minute trip back to the hotel after spending time with a friend over a drink.
Scott recalled the incident in her memoir: “He looked at me and said -- in English -- ‘Tell them they will never see you again.’
“‘I don’t understand,’ I stammered.
“My Uber driver picked up his phone and spoke into it, waiting for me to see the words as they appeared via Google Translate. ‘Tonight I am not taking you home,’ [it] read. ‘You come with me.’”
According to The Daily Mirror, Scott said the experience left her body “numb” and the Uber driver told her of the “horrible, terrible things” he did to women like her via Google Translate and his broken English.
During her World Cup trip, Scott met with Russian President Vladimir Putin before the Uber driver ordeal and mentioning his name helped her in her time of need.
The former Arsenal Women player claimed she texted her agent to tell him “[…] if I wasn’t back in 15 minutes to send a search party.”
Scott opened up on the spine-chilling message the driver showed her using his phone, with the man telling her he ‘killed’ women like her.
After seeing the Kremlin -- and with no feasible route of escape due to the doors being locked -- Scott told the “stacked bald man” she planned to meet with Putin.
“‘Oh my God,’ was my first thought... ‘I’m never going to see Mum again,’” she said.
Scott added: “Putin! I had been with Putin that morning! ‘You can’t kill me,’ I said. ‘I have to see Putin tomorrow.’”
When the man refused to believe her Putin claim, Scott was able to pull up an image of her with the Russian head of state and the driver’s tone drastically changed.
“He started laughing. ‘No one sees Putin’. I was scrambling now, pulling up photos from the morning’s visit to the Kremlin that had made newspaper headlines,” Scott recalled.
“His laughter died and I could see the cogs whirring as he tried to process what I was showing him. ‘If I don’t see Putin tomorrow, he will find you.’
Scott was returned to her hotel, but not before the driver touched her legs and tried to kiss her ahead of her desperate escape from the vehicle.
She continued: “I knew then what a near-miss I’d had but, rather than confront it, I just... brushed aside the incident like it had never happened.
“I didn’t want people to worry about me or think I couldn’t handle myself -- just like when I was young.”
Topics: Alex Scott, Football World Cup, Football
Adnan Riaz