Achraf Hakimi Ordered to Stand Trial for Rape
Achraf Hakimi, the Paris Saint-Germain and Morocco star, has been ordered to stand trial for rape by a French court, a decision that keeps one of football’s most high-profile legal cases firmly in the spotlight.
The ruling, delivered on Friday, confirms that the 27-year-old will face a criminal court in the Hauts-de-Seine department, west of Paris. No trial date has been set.
Hakimi has repeatedly denied the allegations. Posting on X, he said he was “eagerly awaiting” the trial, arguing it would finally allow him “to speak” in full and defend himself before the court.
His lawyer, Fanny Colin, framed the ruling as a procedural step rather than a judgment on guilt. “This confirmation was expected. Nothing here says that he is guilty of anything, he remains steadfast in his defence,” she said.
On the other side of the case, the decision landed very differently. The lawyer for the plaintiff, Rachel-Flore Pardo, said the court’s move brought her client “relief and hope” after more than a year of legal and public scrutiny.
The complaint dates back to February 2023. A woman, then 24, told police in the Val-de-Marne region, southeast of Paris, that Hakimi had raped her.
According to a police source at the time, the woman said she first came into contact with Hakimi on Instagram in January 2023. She later went to his home in a taxi that she said was ordered by the player.
Once there, she alleged, Hakimi kissed her and touched her without her consent before raping her. She told investigators she managed to push him away and send a message to a friend, who then came to collect her.
Until this week, the woman had remained publicly silent. Speaking under the pseudonym “Jeanne” in an interview with Mediapart published on Thursday, she explained why she wanted the case to go to trial.
She said she was seeking “to defend myself, to be heard,” adding: “I want to explain myself. I want people to believe me.”
Hakimi, captain of the Moroccan national team, continues his career on the pitch while the legal process gathers pace off it. Morocco are playing their second World Cup match on Friday against Scotland, a reminder of the defender’s dual existence: central figure for club and country, and central figure in a case that will now be argued in a criminal court, under the full glare of public attention.
