French prosecutors send Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi to trial for rape

French prosecutors have pushed Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi toward a criminal trial, a move that would send one of the most visible players in African football into open court over rape allegations he has denied since 2023.

The case centers on an accusation that Hakimi raped a woman at his home near Paris in February 2023. Investigators in Nanterre opened a probe soon after, and Hakimi was placed under judicial supervision in March 2023. A French court confirmed on Friday, June 19, 2026, that he will stand trial, after prosecutors asked that the Paris Saint-Germain defender face the Hauts-de-Seine criminal court.

Standing trial in France does not mean a finding of guilt. It means an investigating judge has decided the evidence is strong enough to move the case from inquiry into public proceedings before a criminal court, where prosecutors and defense lawyers will test the file in open hearings. Hakimi, who was 26 when prosecutors sought a trial in August 2025 and is 27 now, has repeatedly denied the allegations.

The procedural fight has lasted more than three years. On May 22, 2026, Hakimi contested his referral for trial before the Versailles appeal court chamber and sought dismissal, showing that the defense had kept pressing for the case to be thrown out even as prosecutors in Nanterre argued for it to proceed. The alleged victim, identified later by the pseudonym Jeanne, told Mediapart that she wanted a trial so she could be heard and explain herself.

For PSG and Morocco, the case tests how elite football handles allegations that reach far beyond the pitch. Clubs and national teams typically avoid prejudging such matters, but the stakes are not only reputational. They also go to whether powerful sports institutions can balance due process, player status and public accountability when serious criminal accusations involve a high-profile captain.

Hakimi’s football profile has made the case especially sensitive. He was a central figure for Morocco at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, when the team became the first African or Arab nation to reach the semi-finals. That stature has kept the legal battle in the public eye, even as prosecutors, judges and defense lawyers have spent years moving the case toward the criminal court.