A French court on Wednesday upheld the decision for Paris Saint-Germain and Morocco defender Achraf Hakimi to face trial over an alleged rape, according to a judicial source cited by AFP.
An appeals court had ruled on June 19, during the World Cup, that Hakimi, 27, should stand trial before a criminal court over the alleged 2023 rape of a woman, an allegation he has consistently denied.
Hakimi challenged the ruling before the Court of Cassation, France’s highest judicial authority for civil and criminal cases.
The appeal represented his final legal avenue. In February, authorities had ordered him to face trial before the criminal court in the Hauts-de-Seine department over the rape allegation.
Hakimi contested the initial decision before appealing to the Court of Cassation after the Versailles appeals court upheld the trial order in June.
Hakimi’s lawyer, Fanny Colin, did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for a comment when contacted on Wednesday.
“After three and a half years of legal battles, after being slandered and dragged through the mud by Achraf Hakimi’s defence, my client is determined to obtain justice; she will fight to the very end,” the plaintiff’s lawyer, Rachel-Flore Pardo, said in a statement sent to AFP.
The case dates back to February 2023, when a 24-year-old woman reported to police in Val-de-Marne, southeast of Paris, that Hakimi had allegedly raped her.
According to a police source at the time, the woman said she first met Hakimi on Instagram in January 2023 before travelling to his home in a taxi reportedly arranged by the footballer.
She alleged that Hakimi kissed her, touched her without consent and subsequently raped her.
The woman said she was able to push him away before sending a message to a friend, who later came to pick her up.
Hakimi was formally charged with rape several days after the allegation was reported.
