PSG star Achraf Hakimi faces questions on rape allegation before facing Liverpool

Achraf Hakimi faced questions over the allegations hanging over him as the Paris Saint-Germain defender awaits trial following an allegation of rape made in 2023

Achraf Hakimi speaks at a press conference ahead of Paris Saint-Germain's game against Liverpool(Image: Getty Images)

Paris Saint-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi has again denied allegations against him as he awaits trial for rape.

The 27-year-old faced questions during a press conference on Monday as his side prepares to face Liverpool in the second leg of its Champions League quarter-final. Hakimi, PSG’s vice-captain, is expected to play at Anfield, with the French side holding a 2-0 lead after the first leg.

It was confirmed in February that Hakimi’s case had been sent to trial after an allegation of rape was made against him following an incident in 2023. The Morocco international has always denied the allegations, and did so when asked about them again on Monday.

"I know this accusation is false,” Hakimi said during the press conference in Liverpool. “I feel calm, I’m focused on the rest of the season. I let my lawyers and the justice do the work.”

An investigation was opened by the Nanterre - a western suburb of Paris - prosecutor’s office in 2023 after an allegation of rape was made against Hakimi.

The plaintiff, who was 24 at the time of the alleged incident, said she met the PSG star through Instagram in January 2023 and went to his home in a taxi ordered by the player. It’s then claimed that the player kissed her, touched her without her consent and raped her before she managed to push him away and texted a friend who picked her up.

The public prosecutor’s office began a preliminary investigation back in March 2023, before it was confirmed in February of this year that Hakimi would face trial.

Achraf Hakimi is expected to play for PSG against Liverpool at Anfield

"Today, a rape accusation is enough to justify a trial," Hakimi posted on X in February.

"This is as unjust to the innocent as it is to the genuine victims. I calmly await this trial, which will allow the truth to come out publicly."

In a statement, Hakimi’s lawyer, Fanny Colin, said: “A trial has been ordered on the basis of an accusation that rests solely on the word of a woman who obstructed all investigations, refused all medical examinations and DNA tests, refused to allow her mobile phone to be examined, and refused to give the name of a key witness.”

The plaintiff’s lawyer, Rachel-Flore Pardo, said her client was relieved that the case was going to court, and said the judiciary had been exemplary in handling the case but warned that its treatment, in general, showed “there are still areas where the #MeToo movement has not yet breached the sound barrier, chiefly in men’s football.”

Hakimi has continued to play for PSG since the trial was announced, and will be expected to captain Morocco at this summer’s World Cup, where his nation will face Scotland, Haiti and Brazil in the group stages.