Manchester City and Australia forward Mary Fowler has opened up on her experiences at Montpellier, claiming she and a teammate were the victims of a racist incident at the French club.
Fowler, who spent two years at Montpellier before joining City in 2022, has released a candid memoir detailing the extent of her experience with depression and self-harm.
The 22-year-old also revealed she was subjected to racism and differential treatment during her time in France with Montpellier, recalling a post-match presentation after her final home game for departing players.
Explaining the incident in her recently released autobiography Bloom, Fowler says several departing overseas players were given flowers, but she and teammate Ashleigh Weerden did not receive any acknowledgement.
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"Afterwards, when we got inside the changing room, some of our teammates questioned why we hadn't received any flowers," Fowler wrote. "We shrugged our shoulders, just as clueless as they were."
Fowler goes on to claim that one of her teammates "handed my friend and me some bananas".
"A few of the girls laughed about it and then one of the other players came over and handed my friend and me some bananas, saying, 'Here, have these.' That was the cherry on top," she said, as per ABC.
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"Since leaving Montpellier, my friend and I have spoken about that moment a few times. Not receiving flowers was one thing, but as two of only six black girls in the squad, receiving bananas wasn't something I could laugh off and forget about."
Fowler questioned the teammate's intent, looking for a way to justify the shocking incident. "But when I add in the many other times at the club when we were left feeling a similar way, it was hard to see it as merely a simple error," she added.
"I wish we'd done something after it happened — to stand up for ourselves even a little — but instead we just sat there holding those bananas."
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The Australia international also recalled another incident at Montpellier, when she returned from an international break with chest pain.
Fowler says they didn't believe her. "The coach spoke in French, expressing again that he wanted me to play in the game that day," she said. "In English, I told him again that I wasn't faking the chest pains I'd experienced and wasn't going to play until I got it checked out."
She added: "Then he started throwing minutes at me. Could I play for sixty minutes? Thirty? Ten? 'The team needs you,' he said."
SPORTbible has reached out to Montpellier for comment.
Jack Kenmare