Abuse Survivor Puzzled By Statement From Footballer Who Attacked Her

In response to Kolbeinn Sigþórsson’s statement yesterday, wherein he issued a very conditional apology of sorts for “behaviour [that] … was not exemplary” towards Þórhildur Gyða Arnarsdóttir, Þórhildur told RÚV that she was puzzled by this statement.

“I never named him and did not come forward to attack him personally,” she said. “This is why I’m upset that he’s attacking me and accusing my of lying,” referring to his saying that he “did not recognise having harassed [Þórhildur and her friend], nor did I recognise having resorted to violence and I declined any guilt” in his statement.

It bears emphasising that the revelation that Kolbeinn was the one who attacked her did not come from Þórhildur, but from a source close to Vísir.

“I only described what happened so people could be made aware of the seriousness of the matter,” she said. “The purpose was never to come after him personally, but rather to shine a light on the fact that KSÍ was lying, that’s what I focused on.”

She also responded to Kolbeinn’s contention that he donated 3 million ISK to rape crisis prevention centre Stígamót.

“I want to point out that paying Stígamót was not his idea,” she said. “It was [my and my friend’s] idea, as I had long been at Stígamót and appreciate the work they do. We felt he needed to pay back society due to how he behaved and because of this attack on us.”

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