Achraf Hakimi, Morocco's captain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, is set to stand trial on a rape charge, with the news coming just before his team's Group C match against Scotland.
As reported by ESPN via the Associated Press, the Versailles appeals court announced on Friday (June 19) that the defender will be formally charged with rape over accusations he sexually assaulted a 24-year-old woman in Paris in 2023. The court recently rejected an appeal Hakimi filed against a February ruling from an investigative judge who recommended he face trial for the charge.
According to a police source, the unidentified woman claimed she met Hakimi, who also plays for Paris Saint-Germain, on Instagram in January 2023, and she later traveled to his home in a Paris suburb when he paid for a taxi to come pick her up.
In her police complaint, she alleged he kissed her, touched her without consent, and then raped her. She told authorities that she pushed him away and contacted a friend to pick her up. A preliminary investigation opened the following month
"After more than three years of legal proceedings, and after being defamed and dragged through the mud by Achraf Hakimi's defense, the court's decision brings my client a sense of relief and hope," said the plaintiff’s lawyer, Rachel-Flore Pardo.
They continued: "Relief that she has been heard by the justice system and will have her case heard at trial. Hope that this trial will help other women and further weaken the fortress of denial and impunity surrounding sexual violence, including within the world of men's football."
Hakimi, who has denied the accusations, responding in a message shared on X. "Today, a story that isn't mine is being told at the expense of my family, my life, and above all, the truth," he wrote. "Sometimes I feel like I've become an easy target."
His attorney, Fanny Colin, said that the ruling "does not indicate guilt" of her client and that Hakimi "remains steadfast in his defence."
"The multitude of exculpatory elements uncovered during the investigation and judicial inquiry would, in any other case, have led to the dismissal of the proceedings," Colin added. "Achraf Hakimi's defense regrets that no consequences were drawn from the contradictions and false statements made by the complainant, her concealment of information from the judicial authorities, her obstruction of the search for the truth, and the psychological assessments noting both her ambivalence and her lack of clarity regarding the events she reported."
If Morocco advances to the knockout rounds of the 2026 FIA World Cup, Hakimi could face entry complications for any matches held in Canada, because the government can deny entry to anyone who has committed or been convicted of a crime.
For example, Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey missed his country's opener against Panama after being barred from entering Canada amid his own rape case.
