Morocco footballer Hakimi to appeal rape trial order

Moroccan footballer Achraf Hakimi, whose referral for trial on rape charges was upheld by an appeals court, has lodged an appeal with France's Court of Cassation, a source close to the case told AFP on Friday.

An appeals court confirmed on June 19 that the Moroccan national team and Paris Saint-Germain player would stand trial in criminal court over the alleged rape of a woman in 2023, an accusation he has repeatedly denied.

The decision came as Hakimi, 27, was captaining the Moroccan team in the 2026 World Cup.

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".

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.

In February 2023, a woman then aged 24 told police in the Val-de-Marne region southeast of Paris that Hakimi had raped her.

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.

She claimed that the player kissed her, touched her without her consent and then raped her.

"Every decision handed down in this case has been in favour of the claimant. She will fight to the very end to obtain justice," the plaintiff's lawyer Rachel-Flore Pardo said.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)