Paris Saint-Germain and Morocco defender Achraf Hakimi will stand trial in France over a rape allegation after the country’s highest court rejected his final appeal.
The Court of Cassation, France’s highest court for civil and criminal matters, dismissed Hakimi’s appeal on Wednesday, September 23, confirming the decision to send the 27-year-old footballer before a criminal court in the Hauts-de-Seine department.
The ruling represents the latest stage in a legal case that began in 2023. Hakimi has consistently denied the allegation and maintains that he did not commit any wrongdoing.
The Court of Cassation’s decision does not amount to a finding of guilt. The court was considering Hakimi’s appeal against the decision to send him to trial, while the merits of the allegation will be examined during the trial itself.
Hakimi’s legal team had challenged an earlier decision ordering him to stand trial. In June, the Versailles Court of Appeal upheld the decision after Hakimi appealed against the order issued by an investigating judge.
His lawyers subsequently took the case to the Court of Cassation, which represented his final legal avenue to challenge the referral to trial.
That appeal has now been rejected.
A judicial source told AFP that the Court of Cassation upheld the decision, while Hakimi’s lawyer Bertrand Périer confirmed that the appeal had been dismissed.
The case dates back to February 2023, when a woman accused Hakimi of rape following an encounter at his home in the Paris suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt.
According to reports on the case, the woman had met Hakimi through Instagram before visiting his home. The allegation subsequently led to a judicial investigation and criminal proceedings.
Hakimi has denied the accusation from the beginning.
In June, after the Versailles Court of Appeal confirmed that he would stand trial, the Morocco international said he had been waiting for the opportunity to present his side of the story.
“Today, a story that isn’t mine is being told at the expense of my family, my life, and above all, the truth,” Hakimi wrote on social media at the time, according to Reuters.
He added that he had been waiting for the trial and looked forward to having the opportunity to speak about the case.
His defence has also maintained that the allegations are strongly contested and that Hakimi has cooperated with investigators.
Following Wednesday’s ruling, his lawyer Fanny Colin stressed that the allegations against her client had not been examined on their merits by the Court of Cassation and would instead be addressed during the forthcoming trial.
The complainant’s legal team, meanwhile, has welcomed the progression of the case and said the woman remains determined to pursue it.
Her lawyer, Rachel-Flore Pardo, said her client had continued with the legal process for more than three and a half years and remained committed to seeking justice.
The trial itself will therefore become the next major stage of the proceedings.
A date for the trial has not yet been announced.
Hakimi has continued his professional football career while the legal case has progressed. The defender remains an important player for Paris Saint-Germain and Morocco, having represented the national team at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The latest court decision comes several months after the Versailles Court of Appeal confirmed in June that Hakimi should face trial. That decision followed an order from an investigating judge in February 2026 directing the player to appear before a criminal court.
Hakimi had sought to have the decision overturned, but the successive appeals have now reached their conclusion with the Court of Cassation rejecting his final challenge.
The legal process will now move from the question of whether Hakimi should be tried to the examination of the allegations themselves.
That distinction is important because being sent to trial is not a conviction. Hakimi remains entitled to defend himself against the allegation, while the court will ultimately consider the evidence and arguments presented by both sides.
For now, the PSG defender faces the prospect of appearing before a French criminal court, where the allegations dating back to 2023 will be examined in full.
Hakimi has repeatedly maintained his innocence, while the complainant continues to pursue the case through the French judicial system.
With the final appeal now rejected, the long-running legal dispute has entered its next phase, with attention turning to when the trial will take place and what evidence will be presented before the court.
