Hakimi Appeals Hearing: Crucial Rape Charge Decision Ahead
Achraf Hakimi, one of the defining full-backs of his generation and a central figure in Morocco’s historic World Cup run, faces a pivotal day in court west of Paris.
On Thursday, the Versailles appeals court is set to examine whether the 27-year-old Morocco international will stand trial on a charge of rape, or see the case reclassified as a lesser offence. The stakes are stark: if the appeal fails and the charge stands, Hakimi will go to trial on a date still to be fixed.
The case dates back to February 2023. A woman, then 24, went to police in Val-de-Marne, southeast of Paris, and accused the Paris Saint-Germain defender of raping her. After an initial investigation, Hakimi was formally charged and placed under judicial supervision. In February this year, judges decided the case should proceed to trial, triggering the appeal now before Versailles.
Hakimi, a star of Morocco’s run to the 2022 World Cup semi-finals and a key player for PSG, denies any wrongdoing.
His lawyer, Fanny Colin, has kept a tight lid on public comment. Contacted by AFP, she declined to speak about the latest developments. Her stance inside the courtroom has been very different. During the referral hearing, she attacked the foundations 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, relayed at the time by a police source, paints a very different picture. She said she first came into contact with Hakimi in January 2023 via Instagram. According to her statement, he ordered a taxi to bring her to his home. Once there, she claimed, the player kissed her and touched her without consent before raping her. She told police she managed to push him away and send a text message to a friend, who then came to collect her.
Those two sharply opposed narratives now converge in the Versailles courtroom, where judges must decide how the French justice system will handle one of football’s most high-profile legal cases.
Hakimi’s professional life, at least publicly, continues on a separate track. The former Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan defender joined PSG in 2021 and has since become one of the club’s cornerstones on the right flank. 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 stage that usually defines legacies rather than legal sagas.
Internationally, his status remains just as central. Barring injury, Hakimi is certain to be part of the Morocco squad when they open their World Cup campaign against Brazil on June 13 in New Jersey. It is a daunting Group C that also includes Scotland and Haiti, and Morocco will look again to the pace, timing and personality of the full-back who helped drag them into uncharted territory in Qatar.
For now, though, the focus shifts from the roar of stadiums to the measured formality of a courtroom. One decision in Versailles will shape not only the next phase of Hakimi’s career, but the backdrop against which he steps onto the pitch in Budapest and New Jersey.
