A French appeals court confirmed on Friday that Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi will stand trial for suspected rape of a woman in 2023, a charge he denies.
In February 2023, a lady, then 24, reported police in the Val-de-Marne region southeast of Paris that Hakimi had raped her.
The PSG right-back and captain of the Moroccan national team, whose second match of the 2026 World Cup begins on Friday against Scotland, has always refuted all allegations.
Shortly after the Versailles Court of Appeal issued its decision, Hakimi posted on X that he had been “waiting for this trial since day one.”
“At last, I’ll be able to speak,” he said.
The criminal court in the Hauts-de-Seine department has not set a date for the trial to begin.
“This confirmation was expected. Nothing here says that he is guilty of anything; he remains steadfast in his defense,” Hakimi’s lawyer Fanny Colin said.
Rachel-Flore Pardo, the plaintiff’s lawyer, stated that the verdict provided her client with “relief and hope.”
The lawsuit said she contacted Hakimi on Instagram in January 2023 and traveled to his home in a cab booked by the player, according to a police source.
She alleged that the player kissed, touched, and raped her without her consent.
She stated she was able to push him away and text a friend, who came to pick her up.
In an article published Thursday, the woman, under the pseudonym Jeanne, spoke to the press for the first time, saying she wanted a trial “to defend myself, to be heard.”
“I want to explain myself. I want people to believe me,” she added.
