A French court has ordered Achraf Hakimi to stand trial on rape charges after he lost an appeal, pushing one of Morocco’s biggest players into the next phase of a case that has followed him for more than three years. Hakimi, 27, has denied any wrongdoing since he was charged in March 2023.
The ruling lands while Hakimi is still on duty at the 2026 World Cup. He played the full 90 minutes of Morocco’s group stage opener against Brazil on June 13, and Morocco next face Scotland in Foxborough on Friday.
The Versailles appeal court said an investigating chamber had already found sufficient evidence for Hakimi to face trial. That is the legal threshold that matters now: the case has moved beyond investigation and into the courtroom, even if the schedule for the trial itself has not been announced.
Hakimi signaled in February that he expected the case to reach trial, and after the latest ruling he said he was looking forward to it. “I’ve been waiting for this trial since day one,” he said. “And now I’m looking forward to it. Finally, I will be able to speak.”
That promise of a hearing is exactly what his accuser’s lawyer says the court has already weighed. Rachel-Flore Pardo said the decision brought her client “relief and hope,” and wrote that six judges determined that the numerous incriminating elements justify indicting Hakimi before the Departmental Criminal Court for rape. She also said the ruling was consistent with the evidence in the case and with the views of the public prosecutor, the investigating judge and the advocate general at the Court of Appeal.
The accusation relates to an incident alleged to have occurred in February 2023, when a 24-year-old woman said Hakimi assaulted her. He has continued to deny the claim, and the latest decision means the fight over the facts will now be tested in court rather than in the back-and-forth of appeals and filings.
For Hakimi, the next important date is no longer in the appeals process. It is the trial itself, even though the court has not said when it will begin.
