RismadarVoice Reporters
September 23, 2026
Paris Saint-Germain and Morocco defender Achraf Hakimi will stand trial in France over an allegation of rape after the country’s highest court upheld a decision to prosecute him, AFP reports.
A judicial source said on Wednesday that the Court of Cassation had rejected Hakimi’s appeal against the decision to send him before a criminal court in the Hauts-de-Seine department.
Hakimi, 27, has consistently denied the allegation.
The case dates back to February 2023, when a 24-year-old woman reported to police in the Val-de-Marne region, southeast of Paris, that Hakimi had raped her.
According to details previously provided by a police source, the woman said she met Hakimi on Instagram in January 2023 and later travelled to his home in a taxi reportedly arranged by the footballer.
She alleged that Hakimi kissed and touched her without consent before raping her. She said she was eventually able to push him away and send a message to a friend, who later picked her up.
Hakimi was formally charged with rape days after the complaint.
In February this year, authorities ordered him to stand trial before the criminal court in Hauts-de-Seine. Hakimi challenged the decision, but the Versailles Court of Appeal upheld it on June 19.
He subsequently appealed to the Court of Cassation, the highest court in France for civil and criminal matters. Wednesday’s ruling represents his final legal avenue against the decision to proceed to trial.
Hakimi’s lawyer, Fanny Colin, did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.
The alleged victim’s lawyer, Rachel-Flore Pardo, said in a statement that her client remained determined to pursue the case.
“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.
The decision to proceed to trial does not amount to a finding of guilt, and Hakimi remains entitled to the presumption of innocence until the court reaches a verdict.
