A French court confirmed Friday that Moroccan footballer Achraf Hakimi will stand trial for rape. The 27-year-old footballer, who plays for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), denies the allegations and said he was "eagerly awaiting" his trial.
A French court on Friday confirmed that Moroccan footballer Achraf Hakimi will stand trial for rape. The 27-year-old footballer who plays for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), said he was "eagerly awaiting" his trial.
In a post on X, Hakimi denied the allegations and said the trial will finally enable him " to speak".
In February 2023, a woman then aged 24 told police in the Val-De-Marne region southeast of Paris that Hakimi had raped her.
The PSG player and captain of the Moroccan national team, whose side are playing their second World Cup match on Friday against Scotland, has consistently denied the allegations.
A date has not been announced for the start of the trial at the criminal court in the Hauts-de-Seine department.
"This confirmation was expected. Nothing here says that he is guilty of anything, he remains steadfast in his defence," Hakimi's lawyer Fanny Colin said.
The plaintiff's lawyer Rachel-Flore Pardo said the decision brought her client "relief and hope".
The plaintiff said she met Hakimi in January 2023 on Instagram and went to his home in a taxi ordered by the player, a police source said at the time.
She claimed that the player kissed her, touched her without her consent and then raped her.
She said she managed to push him away and text a friend, who came to pick her up.
Speaking to the press for the first time in a Mediapart article published Thursday, the woman, using the pseudonym Jeanne, said she wanted a trial "to defend myself, to be heard".
"I want to explain myself. I want people to believe me," she added.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
