Achraf Hakimi to Stand Trial for Rape Amid World Cup Pressure

The legal cloud that has hovered over Achraf Hakimi for more than a year has thickened, with French authorities ordering the Morocco captain to stand trial for rape.

The case dates back to February 2023, when a young woman reported she had been sexually assaulted at the defender’s home in Boulogne-Billancourt, on the outskirts of Paris. After a lengthy judicial investigation, the appeals court in Hauts-de-Seine has now ruled that there is sufficient evidence for the 27-year-old to face a full criminal trial.

It is a decisive step in a process that has gripped French football and now cuts directly across Morocco’s 2026 World Cup campaign.

Court backs prosecutors as case moves to trial

The decision follows what authorities described as an extensive three-year judicial inquiry. Prosecutors had formally requested that the case be sent to trial, and the appellate judges have now endorsed that path, confirming that the file will not be dismissed at this stage.

For the civil party, it marks a landmark moment.

Rachel-Flore Pardo, lawyer for the complainant, hailed the ruling as a coherent and necessary move, aligning with the positions taken throughout the investigation by the public prosecutor, the investigating judge, and the advocate general at the Court of Appeal.

“The investigating chamber has ruled that there is sufficient evidence against Achraf Hakimi for having committed rape,” she said, calling the decision “perfectly consistent with the evidence in the case.”

She went further, framing the development as part of a broader reckoning within elite sport. The ruling, she argued, brings her client “relief and hope” and may help “erode the fortress of denial and impunity surrounding sexual violence, even within the world of men’s football.”

For campaigners and lawyers who have long criticised the way high-profile athletes are insulated from scrutiny, the case has become a touchstone.

Hakimi breaks silence and denounces “false accusation”

Hakimi, who has largely kept his counsel in public since the allegations emerged, responded forcefully once the appeals court decision became known.

On social media, the Paris Saint-Germain defender said he had trusted the justice system in silence, only to be told, he claimed, that his fame had played a decisive role in the case existing at all.

“The court 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 thought that remaining dignified, being patient, and trusting in the justice system would allow the right decisions to be made.”

His legal team has taken an even harder line, denouncing the ruling to proceed to trial and insisting that the investigation unearthed “a multitude of exculpatory elements” that, in their view, should have led to the case being thrown out.

According to his lawyer, those elements “would, in any other case, have led to a dismissal.” Instead, the Morocco international now prepares to defend himself in open court and, his camp says, finally speak at length about what he calls a “false accusation.”

The clash between the two narratives could hardly be starker: one side welcoming a long-awaited chance at judicial scrutiny, the other portraying the decision as a failure to properly weigh evidence in favour of the accused.

World Cup pressure meets courtroom reality

All of this breaks at a brutal moment for Hakimi on the pitch. He is not just part of Morocco’s 2026 World Cup squad; he is captaining it.

On Friday night, he will lead his country into a pivotal second group stage match against Scotland, with qualification stakes high and expectations even higher after Morocco’s recent rise on the global stage.

The timing is unforgiving. Every public appearance, every pre-match press conference, now comes with the looming question of his upcoming trial. For a player whose game is built on explosive runs down the flank and relentless energy, the mental strain will be severe.

Inside the Moroccan camp, the message will be to shut out the noise and focus on the tournament. Outside it, the noise will only grow louder.

PSG watching as France awaits trial date

Back in Paris, his club side Paris Saint-Germain are tracking developments with obvious interest. Hakimi remains a key figure in their plans, but a full criminal trial in France is no side issue; it is a central storyline that could shape his future at the club and beyond.

A definitive trial date is expected to be set soon. Once it is, the calendar of a modern football star — World Cup, domestic season, European commitments — will collide with the rigid timetable of the French courts.

For Hakimi, the next few months will unfold on two unforgiving stages: one under the floodlights, the other under oath.