Former Chelsea manager, Avram Grant has again been accused by multiple women of sexual harassment on an Israeli TV channel, a month after he was alleged to have sexually harassed several others.
The 66-year-old, who led Chelsea to the 2008 Champions League final before being sacked, has been accused of forcing himself on an 18-year-old in her car while another woman has claimed that Grant promised her a job before later paying her for sex.
The new accusations from three different women were aired last Thursday on Israel’s Channel 12’s ‘Hasfia’, who broadcasted the first set of allegations of Grant sexually harassing women back in January.
As reported by Israeli newspaper Haaretz, one woman has claimed that Grant took her by car to a parking garage before asking her what she would be ‘prepared to do for money’. When she refused to have sex with him, Grant reportedly told that he would ‘compromise and settle for oral sex.’
The woman went on to claim that Grant would then force himself on her. ‘I got to the point where I was just looking up at the ceiling of the car – I wanted to look anywhere until it was over,’ the woman said.
Another woman, who was 18 at the time, alleged that Grant had formed a relationship with her and had sent her messages and pictures. When asked to stop, Grant allegedly responded that he ‘sent them by mistake’.
The Israeli coach then allegedly agreed to meet her at a petrol station. When the two met, Grant is accused of trying to force himself on the woman in his car.
‘I hoped that it would simply end there, but I realised he wasn’t going to help me,’ she said. ‘He remained in the same position, still grabbing at me. I pushed him away as much as I could, opened the door and ran. I didn’t look back. I got into my car and locked myself in and told myself it wasn’t happening now. I saw him go, he just drove away.’
A third woman has also alleged that, while she was serving in the army, Grant promised her a job and invited her to his apartment. It is claimed that he led the woman to his bedroom and then tried to push her head towards his penis, before later paying her 1,000 shekels (£234).
Grant, who has previously denied to Sportsmail that he has been sexually aggressive towards women following the first set of allegations against him in January, has claimed the Hasifa program is ‘distorted’ and ‘unbalanced’.
He said in a statement: ‘Unfortunately, the Hasifa program has chosen for a second time now to show the public a distorted, unbalanced and unfair picture of my private life, ignoring evidence that was shown to it.
‘Nevertheless, it is important for me to say [that] my relationships with women have always been conducted with respect and consent, and I never intended to hurt anyone. I’m sorry with all my heart if anyone was hurt by me and I regret it.’
Similar accusations were made back in January against Grant, which related to numerous incidents involving several female journalists, with one taking place just over 18 months ago when the alleged victim was just 22.
One woman claimed she was invited to Grant’s apartment in Tel Aviv in June 2020 with an offer to help her find work, before he allegedly asked her to take off her clothes and refused to let her leave.
She said: ‘He told me, “Make yourself comfortable, take off your clothes.” I thought he was joking. I was sitting far away from him, on the edge of the couch.
‘He asked me to come closer and tried to hug me, really grabbed me and did not let go. I felt uncomfortable, he put his hand on my thigh, and I remember immediately moving his hand. After a few seconds of talking, he grabbed me by the neck, turned my head to him and tried to kiss me by force.’
Several women alleged that Grant offered to assist them in their careers when starting out, before making inappropriate comments and sending harassing messages over a number of years.
Grant, who also managed Portsmouth, West Ham, and Israel in a coaching career that ended in 2017 after a three-year spell in charge of Ghana, insisted any harm he had caused was unintentional.
‘I have always sought to prioritise staying a human being and respect every woman or man, whoever they may be,’ he said in January.
‘I am a people person, a man of friendships. And over the years I have maintained relationships with women. In all these I have tried very hard to treat them with respect and friendship and I never intended to behave unfairly or in any way harm any woman.
‘Anyone who has felt uncomfortable or hurt by me, I regret it and apologise from the bottom of my heart.’