Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi was booed during the World Cup group phase after it was announced he will stand trial in a rape case.
Hours before Morocco’s game against Scotland on 19 June, a French appeals court confirmed that Hakimi will stand trial in a rape case.
The PSG defender, who was part of the French side’s Champions League glory in May, had appealed a February decision by an investigative judge. That ruling followed recommendations from public prosecutors that Hakimi should face trial.
He denies any wrongdoing.
The Versailles appeals court’s decision was released just hours before Morocco beat Scotland 1-0 in their Group C match, after the African side drew 1-1 with Brazil in their opening game.
Hakimi was loudly jeered every time he touched the ball in Morocco’s second game of Group C.
He faced preliminary charges of rape in March 2023 after a 24-year-old woman said she was raped by Hakimi at his home in a Paris suburb.
Rachel-Flore Pardo, the lawyer representing the plaintiff, said that after more than three years of legal proceedings, “and after being defamed and dragged through the mud by Achraf Hakimi’s defence” the court's decision “brings my client a sense of relief and hope".
“Relief that she has been heard by the justice system and will have her case heard at trial,” Pardo said in a statement.
"Hope that this trial will help other women and further weaken the fortress of denial and impunity surrounding sexual violence, including within the world of men’s football.”
Hakimi claimed in a message posted on X on Friday that his case would have been dismissed if he had not been famous, and that he sometimes feels he has become “an easy target”.
“Justice looked me in the eye and told me: ‘If you were not famous, there would never have been a case,’" Hakimi wrote.
“I chose to remain silent for years. I believed that staying dignified, being patient, and trusting the justice system would allow the right decisions to be made.”
He added that the case has been detrimental not only to him, but also to his family, “and above all, to the truth”.
“I have been waiting for this trial since the first day. And I am now waiting for it impatiently,” he added. “Finally, I will be able to speak.”
A date for the trial has yet to be announced.
“The multitude of exculpatory elements uncovered during the investigation and judicial inquiry would, in any other case, have led to the dismissal of the proceedings,” Hakimi’s lawyer, Fanny Colin, said.
“Achraf Hakimi’s defence regrets that no consequences were drawn from the contradictions and false statements made by the complainant, her concealment of information from the judicial authorities, her obstruction of the search for the truth, and the psychological assessments noting both her ambivalence and her lack of clarity regarding the events she reported.”
Additional reporting by AP
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