A French court has upheld a decision to send Paris Saint-Germain and Morocco star Achraf Hakimi to trial on a rape charge, a judicial source told AFP on Wednesday, placing the 27-year-old at the centre of one of football’s most closely watched legal battles.
The Court of Cassation, France’s highest judicial authority for civil and criminal matters, rejected Hakimi’s final appeal after the Versailles appeals court had already confirmed in June, during the World Cup, that he must face trial in criminal court.
The case stems from a February 2023 complaint filed by a then-24-year-old woman, who told police in Val-de-Marne that Hakimi raped her at his home after they met on Instagram and he arranged a taxi to bring her over.
She said she pushed him away and texted a friend, who came to collect her. Hakimi has repeatedly denied the accusation.
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The plaintiff’s lawyer, Rachel-Flore Pardo, said her client remains determined to see the case through. “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,” Pardo said in a statement. Hakimi’s lawyer, Fanny Colin, did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.
Hakimi’s case now joins a long list of prominent footballers who have faced rape allegations in recent years, underscoring how frequently the sport has had to confront such accusations at its highest level.
Cristiano Ronaldo faced a civil rape lawsuit from Kathryn Mayorga over an alleged 2009 incident in Las Vegas, a case his lawyers maintained involved consensual activity and which was ultimately dismissed by a US court.
Neymar was accused of raping a woman in a Paris hotel in 2019, an allegation he denied, with prosecutors later dropping the case for lack of evidence.
Benjamin Mendy endured one of the most extensive legal battles in the sport’s recent history, facing multiple counts of rape and sexual assault involving several women between 2018 and 2021. A UK jury acquitted him of the charges that went to trial, after several counts were dropped along the way.
Mason Greenwood was arrested in 2022 on suspicion of attempted rape and assault following allegations made on social media; prosecutors dropped the case in 2023 after key witnesses withdrew their cooperation.
Not every case has ended without consequence. Former Barcelona and Brazil defender Dani Alves was convicted of sexual assault by a Spanish court and sentenced to prison, a verdict that was later overturned on appeal amid evidentiary concerns, illustrating how differently such cases can resolve depending on jurisdiction and evidence.
Hakimi’s trial date has yet to be announced, but with his final legal avenue for appeal exhausted, he now becomes the latest high-profile player forced to answer serious allegations in open court, reigniting debate over accountability, due process and the treatment of accusers in cases involving football’s biggest names.
