PSG and Morocco defender Achraf Hakimi is being investigated for rape, according to French prosecutors.
Multiple reports on Friday stated that the prosecutor’s department of Nanterre, just outside Paris, has opened an investigation into Hakimi after a 23-year-old woman went to police accusing him of rape.
In a statement to CNN on Wednesday, a PSG spokesperson said the club “supports the player who has firmly denied the accusations and trusts the justice system. Paris Saint-Germain is an institution that promotes respect on and off the pitch.”
Hakimi’s lawyer Fanny Colin denounced the allegations in a statement, saying: “It follows in my opinion 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.”
Hakimi, 24, has yet to comment publicly on the allegations.
Rachel Flore Pardo, the lawyer for the alleged victim, told AFP: “My client maintains everything that she said. She made the choice to speak exclusively to prosecutors and does not want the affair to become a media issue, mainly to protect her safety.”
Hakimi appeared in Paris on Monday at the FIFA Best awards ceremony, where he was named in the FIFA FIFPRO Men’s World 11.
The honor came after the right back led Morocco on an improbable run to the semifinal at World Cup 2022, becoming the first African nation to reach the last four of the competition.