Hakimi Breaks Silence After Losing Appeal. He Says the Courts Told Him Something Specific.

Achraf Hakimi is going to trial. The Morocco captain and Paris Saint-Germain defender lost a final appeal in a French court on Friday, meaning he will face a rape charge stemming from a 2023 allegation. He has always denied it.

But instead of going quiet or letting his lawyers do all the talking, Hakimi posted a long statement on social media. And it wasn’t the typical “I look forward to clearing my name” boilerplate. He said the justice system essentially told him, behind closed doors, that the case only exists because he’s famous.

“The justice system looked me in the eye and said, ‘If you weren’t famous, there would never have been a case,’” Hakimi wrote.

The Versailles appeal court confirmed to multiple outlets, including The Athletic, that an investigating chamber found enough evidence to proceed. A trial date has not been set yet.

Hakimi Says He Has Been Waiting for This

Hakimi claimed he has held back from speaking publicly for months because he trusted the legal process and believed the facts would ultimately back him up. He wrote that he’s been waiting for a trial “since day one” and that now he finally gets his turn to talk.

He also said the situation has been brutal on his family. He feels like an easy target because of his profile, and he’s not hiding that frustration.

The plaintiff’s attorney, Rachel-Flore Pardo, took the opposite view. She told reporters the ruling brought her client “relief and hope” after more than three years of legal limbo.

The Timing Could Not Be Worse or More Complicated

The legal news dropped while Hakimi is supposed to be locked in on the World Cup. He is Morocco’s most important player, a 27-year-old with nearly 100 caps who helped drag that team to a historic semifinal run in 2022. They were the first African nation to get that far.

Now Morocco is in the middle of another tournament, preparing for a match against Scotland, and their captain has this hanging over him. He said he’s focused on the football. But the courtroom isn’t done with him yet.

For now, Hakimi stays on the pitch. The trial will have to wait until after the tournament, presumably. Or maybe not. The court hasn’t said when it will happen.