Achraf Hakimi to Stand Trial for Rape Charges in France
Achraf Hakimi, captain of Morocco and one of the most recognisable full-backs in world football, will stand trial for rape in France after prosecutors confirmed an investigating judge has ordered the case to go before a criminal court.
The Paris St-Germain defender is accused of raping a 24-year-old woman at his home in the Paris region in 2023. The public prosecutor's office in Nanterre, to the west of the French capital, opened a preliminary investigation in March of that year. Since then, the case has moved slowly but relentlessly through the French legal system.
In February 2026, a judge formally ordered that Hakimi face trial. French media report that the 27-year-old recently failed with an appeal to have the case thrown out, a move that would have spared him the glare of a full public hearing. It did not succeed. A date for the start of the trial has yet to be set.
Hakimi has consistently and firmly denied the accusations. On Friday, on the eve of Morocco’s second World Cup group game against Scotland in the United States, he broke a long public silence with a pointed message on social media.
"The justice system looked me in the eye and said, 'If you weren't famous, there would never have been a case,'" he wrote. "I chose to remain silent for years. I believed that maintaining my dignity, being patient, and trusting in the justice system would allow the right decisions to be made.
"Today, a story that isn't mine is being told at the expense of my family, my life, and above all, the truth. I sometimes feel like I've become an easy target.
"I've been waiting for this trial since day one. And now I'm eagerly awaiting it. Finally, I'll be able to speak."
On the other side of the case, the woman who has accused Hakimi has watched the build-up with a very different sense of anticipation. Her lawyer, Rachel-Flore Pardo, welcomed the judge’s decision in a written statement.
"After more than three years of legal proceedings, and after my client was, in her view, defamed and dragged through the mud by Achraf Hakimi's defence, this decision brings her relief and hope," she said.
"Relief that she has been heard by the justice system and will have the right to a trial.
"Hope that this trial will help other women and further weaken the wall of denial and impunity surrounding sexual violence, including in the world of men's football."
So the legal path is set, even if the date is not. The sporting calendar, though, waits for no one.
World Cup spotlight, legal shadow
Hakimi is expected to lead Morocco out for their second World Cup fixture against Scotland on Friday (23:00 BST), a role he has embraced since emerging as the face of a golden generation. All three of Morocco’s group matches are being staged in the United States, where the squad is currently based and where the full-back can, for now, focus on football.
But the tournament’s unique geography adds another layer of uncertainty. The World Cup is spread across the three co-hosts – the US, Canada and Mexico – until the quarter-final stage, when it moves exclusively to American soil. If Morocco reach the knockouts and are scheduled to play in Canada or Mexico, Hakimi may find the border more difficult to cross than any defensive line.
Canada’s government states that it can deny entry to anyone who has "committed or been convicted of a crime". The wording leaves room for interpretation, but the recent experience of another Premier League and international midfielder has already sounded an alarm.
Last week, Ghana’s Thomas Partey missed his country’s opening match against Panama after being refused entry to Canada. Partey, 32, has pleaded not guilty to seven charges of rape and one count of sexual assault relating to allegations made by four women between 2020 and 2022. He is due to stand trial next year, yet that pending case alone was enough to keep him out of the country and out of the World Cup spotlight.
Hakimi could face similar scrutiny at the border if Morocco’s route takes them north or south of the US. For now, his immediate reality is simpler: train, play, lead, while a looming trial sits just beyond the touchline.
A career at full tilt
The contrast between Hakimi’s professional rise and the legal storm around him is stark.
Since making his international debut for Morocco in 2016 at just 17, he has become the heartbeat of a side that changed the World Cup’s map. In Qatar in 2022, he was a driving force in the team that became the first African nation to reach the semi-finals, a run that electrified a continent and rewrote expectations for African football on the global stage.
At club level, Hakimi joined Paris St-Germain from Inter Milan in 2021 and has stacked up trophies at a relentless pace. He has collected 13 pieces of silverware with PSG, including back-to-back Champions League titles over the past two seasons, while amassing 97 caps for his country and cementing his status as one of the game’s elite modern full-backs.
That is the player Morocco will rely on in the United States: the overlapping, surging defender whose energy and precision have defined his career. Yet every tackle, every sprint, every captain’s huddle now unfolds against the backdrop of a criminal case that will follow him long after this World Cup ends.
The trial will not begin before 2026. The questions around it have already arrived.
