Hakimi

Paris Saint-Germain which the Moroccan defender Achraf Hakimi denies the alleged rape of a woman in 2023.

French prosecutors on Friday called for Paris Saint-Germain star Achraf Hakimi to face trial for the alleged rape of a woman in 2023, which the Moroccan international denies.

The Nanterre prosecutor’s office told the AFP news agency that they had requested that the investigating judge refer the rape charge to a criminal court.

“It is now up to the investigating magistrate to make a decision within the framework of his order,” the prosecutor’s office told AFP in a statement.

Hakimi, 26, played a major role in PSG’s run to their first Champions League title, with the full-back scoring the opener in the 5-0 rout of Inter Milan in the final in May.

Hakimi, who helped Morocco to their historic run to the semifinals of the 2022 World Cup, was charged in March 2023 with raping a 24-year-old woman.

Hakimi allegedly paid for his accuser to travel to his home on February 25, 2023, in the Paris suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt while his wife and children were away on holiday.

The woman went to a police station following the encounter, alleging rape and was questioned by police.

Although the woman refused to make a formal accusation, prosecutors decided to press charges against the player.

She told police at the time that she had met Hakimi in January 2023 on Instagram.

On the night in question, she said she had travelled to his house in a taxi paid for by Hakimi. She told police Hakimi had started kissing her and making non-consensual sexual advances, before raping her, a police source told AFP at the time.

She said she managed to break free to text a friend who came to pick her up.

Contacted by AFP after Friday’s development, Hakimi’s lawyer Fanny Colin described the call by prosecutors for a trial as “incomprehensible and senseless in light of the case’s elements”.

“We, along with Achraf Hakimi, remain as calm as we were at the start of the proceedings.

“If these requisitions were to be followed, we would obviously pursue all avenues of appeal,” she added.

“My client welcomes this news with immense relief,” Rachel-Flore Pardo, the lawyer representing the woman, told AFP.

Hakimi, born in Madrid, came through the youth system at Real Madrid before joining Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund in 2018.

He went on to make 73 appearances for the German club.

He moved to Inter Milan in 2020 and then on to PSG in 2021, where he has established himself as an integral part of the team.

In Qatar, Hakimi was a cornerstone of the Morocco team that became the first African or Arab nation to reach the semifinals of a World Cup.

The city of Los Angeles must pay nearly $50 million to a man who has been in a coma since he was hit by a sanitation truck while crossing a street in Encino, a jury decided Thursday.

Kamran Hakimi, now 61, was in a crosswalk at Hayvenhurst Avenue and Ventura Boulevard last August when the sanitation truck struck him. Hakimi had a green light, and the driver made an “unsafe right turn,” according to Hakimi’s attorneys.

A handlebar on the front of the truck hit Hakimi’s head and flung him to the asphalt, where he hit his head, the attorneys said. Hakimi briefly stood and flashed a thumbs up before losing consciousness.

“Mr. Hakimi’s life, and the lives of his family, are forever changed due to the negligence of a City of Los Angeles employee,” said Rahul Ravipudi, one of Hakimi’s attorneys. “This verdict upholds the dignity of the life Mr. Hakimi enjoyed before this tragedy and we are grateful to the jury who carefully considered all the evidence and provided Mr. Hakimi with the means necessary to get the higher level of care he so desperately needs.”

Hakimi is a father of five and worked in real estate before the crash. In October, his attorneys filed a lawsuit against the city in Los Angeles Superior Court.

The city admitted that the driver failed to yield to Hakimi, according to Hakimi’s attorneys. But at trial, the city “disputed the damages suffered by Mr. Hakimi, arguing that his life expectancy was limited and that the value of his non-economic damages, including pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life, was minimized because he was in a comatose state,” Hakimi’s attorneys said.

The jury ordered the city to pay Hakimi $48.8 million, including $25 million for future pain and suffering and $10 million for future medical expenses.

The verdict, which comes as the city continues to struggle with escalating legal liability payouts, was larger than any single payout by the city in the last two fiscal years, according to data provided by the City Attorney’s Office. The city can still appeal.

Another Hakimi attorney, Brian Panish, said the case never should have gone to trial, blaming City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto for refusing to settle the case.

“The city attorney chose to force this case to trial, rejected all reasonable settlement proposals … There were many reasonable proposals made by an independent mediator chosen by the city,” Panish said.

Feldstein Soto, through her press office, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Panish echoed arguments made by plaintiffs’ attorneys who have said that Feldstein Soto’s legal strategies have contributed to rising legal liability costs. They claim that Feldstein Soto has taken cases to trial that she should have settled, resulting in bigger verdicts if the city is found liable.

The city paid out a total of $289 million, its highest liability costs ever, in the fiscal year 2025.