Achraf Hakimi to Face Trial for Rape Charge

A French court has confirmed that Achraf Hakimi, the Paris Saint-Germain defender and captain of Morocco’s national team, will face trial on a rape charge, setting the stage for a high-profile courtroom battle involving one of world football’s most prominent full-backs.

The 27-year-old, who has consistently denied the allegation, responded publicly by saying he was “eagerly awaiting” the trial, insisting it will finally give him the chance “to speak”.

A Case Moving Toward the Courtroom

The decision, delivered on Friday by a criminal court in the Hauts-de-Seine department near Paris, does not set a date for the opening of the trial but confirms that the case will proceed.

Hakimi was placed under formal investigation after a woman, then 24, reported to police in February 2023 that he had raped her at his home in the Val-de-Marne region, southeast of the French capital.

According to a police source at the time, the woman said she had met Hakimi on Instagram in January 2023. She later went to his residence in a taxi ordered by the player. She alleged that once there, he kissed her, touched her without her consent and then raped her. She told investigators she managed to push him away and send a message to a friend, who came to collect her.

Hakimi has rejected the accusations from the outset.

Lawyers Set Out Starkly Different Pictures

The court’s confirmation keeps the legal process on track but does not rule on guilt. His lawyer, Fanny Colin, underlined that point in her reaction to the decision.

“This confirmation was expected. Nothing here says that he is guilty of anything, he remains steadfast in his defence,” she said, framing the ruling as a procedural step rather than a turning point in the case.

On the other side, the plaintiff’s lawyer, Rachel-Flore Pardo, described the ruling as a significant moment for her client, saying it brought “relief and hope” that her account will be fully examined in court.

The two statements capture the divide that will now play out under the scrutiny of a criminal trial: a player maintaining his innocence and a woman determined to have her story tested before judges.

The Plaintiff Speaks Publicly

Until this week, the woman at the centre of the case had remained publicly silent. That changed with a detailed interview published Thursday by Mediapart, in which she appeared under the pseudonym “Jeanne”.

She made clear she wants the trial not as a spectacle, but as a platform.

“I want a trial to defend myself, to be heard,” she said. “I want to explain myself. I want people to believe me.”

Her words add a human voice to a case that has so far been driven by legal filings and brief statements. They also underline how much is at stake for her personally when the courtroom doors finally open.

A Star Under the Spotlight

Hakimi’s situation unfolds while he remains central to both club and country. He plays a key role for PSG and wears the armband for Morocco, whose national team is playing its second World Cup match on Friday against Scotland.

That dual status ensures the case will not drift into the background. Every development will reverberate from Paris to Rabat and beyond, following a player whose career has been defined by pace and precision on the pitch, and who now faces a very different kind of test.

For now, there is no trial date, only the certainty that it is coming. When it does, football will have to share the stage with the far more serious questions that a criminal court has been asked to answer.