Paris Saint-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi will face trial over a rape allegation after France’s highest court rejected his final appeal. The Cour de cassation dismissed his appeal on Wednesday.
The decision now clears the way for a criminal trial in Hauts-de-Seine. Hakimi’s lawyer, Bertrand Périer, confirmed the ruling. He said the court found no serious grounds to admit the appeal.
However, the ruling does not decide whether Hakimi committed the alleged offence. His lawyer, Fanny Colin, stressed this point after the decision.
“The facts reproached to Achraf Hakimi, which he has firmly contested from the first day, have not been examined by the Cour de cassation.
They will be during the trial, in the course of which all the elements in defence of Mr Achraf Hakimi will be publicly and contradictorily presented,” she said.
Colin added that the defence will present its evidence during the trial.The case began in February 2023, when a 24-year-old woman accused Hakimi of rape. She said they met on Instagram before she visited his home in Boulogne-Billancourt. Hakimi has consistently denied the allegation.
The Morocco captain says the sexual encounter was consensual. An investigating judge ordered him to face trial in February 2026. The Versailles Court of Appeal later upheld that decision in June.
Meanwhile, the complainant’s lawyer, Rachel-Flore Pardo, said her client remains determined to pursue the case.
“After three and a half years of judicial combat, after having been slandered and dragged through the mud by Achraf Hakimi’s defence, my client is determined to obtain justice, she will fight to the end,” Pardo said.
Hakimi’s defence has also raised concerns about evidence and witness issues. Colin said the complainant’s side allegedly withheld messages and refused some investigative requests.
The defence said Hakimi fully cooperated with investigators. The upcoming trial will allow both sides to present their evidence and arguments in court.
