A French appeals court has confirmed that Paris Saint-Germain defender and Morocco captain, Achraf Hakimi, will stand trial for the alleged r@pe of a woman in 2023, a charge the football star has consistently and emphatically denied.
The Versailles Court of Appeal delivered its ruling on Friday, the same day Morocco kicked off their second 2026 FIFA World Cup group stage match against Scotland.
No trial date has yet been set at the criminal court in the Hauts-de-Seine department.
The case dates to February 2023, when a woman then aged 24 reported to police in the Val-de-Marne region, southeast of Paris, that Hakimi had r@ped her.
According to a police source at the time, the woman said she had met the footballer on Instagram in January 2023 and travelled to his home in a taxi he had ordered for her.
She alleged that Hakimi kissed her, touched her without her consent, and then r@ped her.
She said she managed to push him away before texting a friend, who came to collect her.
For Hakimi, Friday's ruling was not a surprise — it was, he suggested, a moment he had long been preparing for.
Responding on X shortly after the court delivered its decision, the 26-year-old wrote that he had been "waiting for this trial since day one... At last, I'll be able to speak," he said.
His lawyer, Fanny Colin, struck a measured tone following the ruling.
"This confirmation was expected. Nothing here says that he is guilty of anything; he remains steadfast in his defence," Colin said.
For the woman at the centre of the case, the court's decision landed differently.
Speaking publicly for the first time in an article published Thursday by investigative outlet Mediapart, and using the pseudonym Jeanne, she said she had waited for this moment not for revenge, but to be heard.
"I want to explain myself. I want people to believe me," she said, adding that she wanted a trial "to defend myself, to be heard."
Her lawyer, Rachel-Flore Pardo, said the appeals court ruling brought her client "relief and hope."
AFP
Comments (0)
Please sign in to join the conversation.
Loading comments...