Achraf Hakimi Appeals Hearing on Rape Charge in France

Achraf Hakimi, one of the brightest stars of Morocco’s golden generation and a mainstay at Paris Saint-Germain, stands at a defining legal crossroads this week as the Versailles appeals court, west of Paris, re-examines the rape case brought against him.

The 27-year-old Morocco international has been charged with raping a woman, now 25, and is due to stand trial unless the court downgrades the alleged offence. The hearing will decide whether the case proceeds as a full rape trial or is reclassified as a lesser charge. If the appeal fails and the charge stands, a trial date will be set later.

The case stems from a complaint filed in February 2023. A woman then aged 24 went to police in Val-de-Marne, southeast of Paris, alleging that Hakimi had raped her. Investigators moved quickly: he was formally charged and placed under judicial supervision, and in February this year the decision was taken to send the case to trial.

Hakimi has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

His lawyer, Fanny Colin, contacted by AFP, declined to comment ahead of the appeal. Her legal stance, though, is already on record. During the referral hearing that led to the trial decision, Colin attacked the strength of the case, arguing that “the accusation rests solely on the word of a woman who obstructed all investigations, refused all medical examinations and DNA tests (and) refused to give the name of key witnesses”.

The complainant’s account paints a very different picture. According to a police source at the time, she told officers she met Hakimi in January 2023 via Instagram. She later went to his home in a taxi that she said the player had ordered for her. Once there, she claimed, he kissed her, touched her without her consent and then raped her. She told police she managed to push him away and send a text message to a friend, who came to collect her.

Those two sharply opposed narratives now converge in Versailles, where judges must decide what happens next.

The case unfolds around a player whose career has been defined by speed, timing and big stages. Hakimi joined PSG in 2021 from Inter Milan, after earlier spells at Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund, and quickly became one of the French champions’ most influential performers. For Morocco, his impact has been even more historic.

At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Hakimi played a pivotal role as Morocco became the first African and Arab side ever to reach the semi-finals, a run that electrified a continent and a region. His penalty shootout winner against Spain, his relentless surges from right-back, his defensive discipline – all of it helped etch his name into World Cup folklore.

Now his name is being read out in courtrooms instead of stadiums.

On the pitch, he remains central to the plans of both club and country. He is expected to be in the PSG side when the defending champions face Arsenal in the Champions League final on May 30 in Budapest, a showpiece that would normally be framed around tactics, form and legacy, not legal jeopardy.

Beyond that lies another global stage. Barring injury, Hakimi is certain to be part of Morocco’s squad when they open their World Cup campaign against Brazil on June 13 in New Jersey. It is a heavyweight start in Group C, which also includes Scotland and Haiti, and Morocco will again lean heavily on the driving runs and experience of their star full-back.

The contrast is stark. A player preparing for a Champions League final and a World Cup opener, while simultaneously fighting to avoid a rape trial in France.

The Versailles appeals court will not decide his footballing fate. It will decide something far more serious.