PSG and Morocco player Achraf Hakimi charged with rape

Paris Saint-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi has been charged with rape by French prosecutors, it was announced on Friday.

The Morocco international was accused by a 24-year-old woman who made a complaint to police on Sunday, February 26.

That has now been followed five days later by a formal indictment against the 24-year-old former Inter, Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid player, AFP reported.

After the initial complaint, PSG issued a statement to French media that was supportive of Hakimi, stating he had "firmly denied the accusations and trusts justice".

The club added in that statement: "PSG is an institution that promotes respect on and off the pitch."

Hakimi's lawyer, Fanny Colin, said in a statement that her client "firmly denied the accusations made against him" when he spoke to police on Thursday.

She added: "In my opinion, it follows from the documents which are in the hands of the judicial police that Mr Hakimi has, in this case, been the subject of an attempted racketeering."

Colin stressed Hakimi would be looking to clear his name, saying: "I remind that the indictment that followed this hearing is a must for anyone who is the subject of an accusation of rape and finally offers Mr Hakimi the possibility of defending himself by opening up a large number of rights, first and foremost that of perusing the file.

"After the few hours of hearing, I retain for my part that the informant refused to file a complaint, refused to submit to the slightest medical or psychological examination and refused to be confronted with Achraf Hakimi even though the accusation is based exclusively on her words."

Hakimi was a major figure in Morocco's run to the World Cup semi-finals at the end of last year, and he is also a key player for French champions PSG.

The Parisians are top of Ligue 1 and face Nantes in that competition on Saturday.

After that, they begin preparation for a Champions League trip to play Bayern Munich next Wednesday, trailing 1-0 from the first leg.

Hakimi moved to PSG in July 2021 when he left Inter for a reported initial fee of €60million.

On Monday, he was named in the FIFA FIFPRO Men’s World 11 at FIFA's The Best awards ceremony in Paris.

He has not been detained in custody by police and trained with his club on Friday, although a recent hamstring injury ruled him out of the Nantes game.

PSG head coach Christophe Galtier said before his press conference on Friday that he would not answer any non-football questions about Hakimi.

Asked for an update on the player's injury, Galtier said he hoped Hakimi would be fit to face Bayern.