Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi will stand trial for rape, French prosecutors have confirmed.
A girl accused the Paris St-Germain defender of raping her at his residence within the French capital in 2023, when she was aged 24.
The general public prosecutor’s workplace in Nanterre, a western suburb of Paris, started a preliminary investigation in March 2023.
An investigating choose ordered a trial in February 2026 and French media report that Hakimi, 27, failed with a current attraction to have the trial dismissed.
Hakimi, who is ready to steer his facet out for his or her second World Cup fixture towards Scotland on Friday (23:00 BST), has persistently denied the accusations.
“The justice system seemed me within the eye and mentioned, ‘In the event you weren’t well-known, there would by no means have been a case,'” Hakimi wrote on social media on Friday.
“I selected to stay silent for years. I believed that sustaining my dignity, being affected person, and trusting within the justice system would permit the fitting selections to be made.
“Immediately, a narrative that is not mine is being advised on the expense of my household, my life, and above all, the reality. I generally really feel like I’ve develop into a straightforward goal.
“I have been ready for this trial since day one. And now I am eagerly awaiting it. Lastly, I am going to have the ability to converse.”
Rachel-Flore Pardo, the plaintiff’s lawyer mentioned in an announcement: “After greater than three years of authorized proceedings, and after my shopper was, in her view, defamed and dragged by the mud by Achraf Hakimi’s defence, this choice brings her aid and hope.
“Reduction that she has been heard by the justice system and can have the fitting to a trial.
“Hope that this trial will assist different ladies and additional weaken the wall of denial and impunity surrounding sexual violence, together with on the earth of males’s soccer.”
A date has not but been set for the beginning of the trial.
All three of Morocco’s group stage fixtures are being held in america, the place the workforce are at the moment primarily based.
However ought to Morocco progress to the knockout phases, Hakimi might face difficulties in getting into Canada or Mexico if their matches are scheduled exterior america.
Final week, Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey missed his nation’s opener towards Panama after being denied entry to World Cup co-hosts Canada.
Partey, 32, has pleaded not responsible to seven expenses of rape and one depend of sexual assault regarding allegations by 4 completely different ladies between 2020 and 2022.
He is because of stand trial subsequent 12 months.
Canada’s authorities web site states that they’ll deny entry to any individual that has “dedicated or been convicted of against the law”.
The World Cup is being held throughout all three co-host international locations till the quarter-final stage, when it will likely be held completely within the US.
Hakimi, who has received 97 caps for Morocco, made his worldwide debut in 2016 on the age of 17.
He was a key determine within the Morocco facet that grew to become the primary African nation to succeed in the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2022.
The defender joined Paris St-Germain from Inter Milan in 2021, and has received 13 items of silverware throughout his time on the membership – together with back-to-back Champions League titles up to now two seasons.