The Moroccan international footballer Achraf Hakimi will stand trial for rape in a French court, the Versailles Court of Appeal announced today, after rejecting the final appeal presented by the Paris Saint-Germain player’s defense team.
Despite appealing to the highest judicial authority to have the case dismissed, Hakimi, who is currently competing in the 2026 World Cup representing Morocco, expressed that he is “eager” to answer the charges in court, which stem from an accusation made by a woman in March 2023.
“I have been waiting for this trial since day one. And now I am even more eager. Finally, I will be able to speak,” the 27-year-old Moroccan national team captain wrote on social media ahead of his team’s second match in Group C of the 2026 World Cup against Scotland, following a -1 opening draw against Brazil.
The Paris Saint-Germain defender, a teammate of Portuguese internationals Nuno Mendes, João Neves, Vitinha, and Gonçalo Ramos at the five-time consecutive French champions and two-time European champions, reaffirmed his innocence and lamented that being a highly exposed public figure made him an “easy target.”
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“The judicial system looked me in the eye and said: ‘If you weren’t famous, this case wouldn’t exist.’ (…) I chose to remain silent for years. I thought that maintaining dignity, being patient, and trusting the judicial system would allow the correct decisions to be made,” he observed.
Hakimi will be tried by a criminal court in the Paris region, after being formally indicted in March 2023, shortly after a woman filed a complaint at the Nogent-sur-Marne police station on the outskirts of Paris.
In the indictment, the young woman, who was 24 years old at the time, asserted that she had been invited by Hakimi to the Moroccan player’s residence in Boulogne-Billancourt, an area located about 10 kilometers from the center of the French capital, where she ultimately accused him of raping her.
Hakimi has denied any wrongdoing from the very beginning of the investigation, maintaining that their interaction involved nothing more than mutual, fully consensual kissing and embracing.
