Morocco ‌captain Achraf Hakimi to appeal ruling to stand trial on rape charge

[p]An appeals court confirmed on June 19th that the Moroccan national team and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/psg/CjhkPw0k/"]Paris Saint-Germain[/a] player would stand trial in criminal court over the alleged rape of a woman in 2023, an accusation he has repeatedly denied.[/p][p][b]The decision came as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hakimi-achraf/MqFBkBsp/"]Hakimi[/a], 27, was captaining the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/morocco/IDKYO3R8/"]Moroccan team[/a] in the 2026 World Cup.[/b][/p][p]Shortly after the Versailles Court of Appeal delivered its ruling, Hakimi wrote on X that he had been "waiting for this trial since day one."[/p][p]His lawyer declined to comment on the appeal to the Court of Cassation, the highest court in the French judicial system for civil and criminal matters.[/p][image alt="Morocco's Achraf Hakimi has been at the World Cup" id="bb99cbcb-666c-41b2-9f5e-e8af9f2f84a9" credit-line="IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters / Brett Davis" guid="81d429e5-acf1-4cdd-b196-c8977af609bf" original-width="5446" original-height="3666" /][p][b]In February 2023, a woman then aged 24 told police in the Val-de-Marne region southeast of Paris that Hakimi had raped her.[/b][/p][p]The plaintiff said she met Hakimi in January 2023 on Instagram and went to his home in a taxi ordered by the player, a police source said at the time.[/p][p]She claimed that the player kissed her, touched her without her consent and then raped her.[/p][p][b]"Every decision handed down in this case has been in favour of the claimant. She will fight to the very end to obtain justice," [/b]the plaintiff's lawyer, Rachel-Flore Pardo, said.[/p]