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What is the story?
Morocco coach Mohamed Webb has confirmed the coaching staff and squad are “supporting” national team captain Achraf Hakim, saying the player is “at peace” and performing exceptionally, a day after a French appeals court upheld his trial in a rape case.
According to a press release from the Versailles Court of Appeal on Friday, the court ordered Hakimi to be formally charged with rape, explaining that the investigation had led the investigation department to conclude there was enough evidence against the footballer to prosecute him, hours before Morocco’s 1-0 win.
The 28-year-old defense attorney appealed the decision made by the investigating judge last February, based on the prosecution’s recommendation that he should be tried, while Hakimi denies any wrongdoing.
When Wehbe was asked in the post-match press conference if he was concerned about Hakimi’s psychological management, he said:
The Moroccan coach added: “He did a good job, so why are we talking about management? He got up in the morning, ate like everyone else, focused, played with everyone and wanted to play well, and he did that.”
He continued in a determined tone. “We don’t need to say anything. We’re rooting for him, he’s very calm and we hope he proves he’s the best full-back in the world. I think this issue is important for me, the players and the 44 million Moroccans who follow us.”
Hakimi was booed by some fans on the pitch as he touched the ball, in a scene that reflected the fallout from the incident that has haunted him since March 2023, when he faced the original rape charge after a 24-year-old woman claimed he raped her at her home in a Paris suburb.
For her part, the plaintiff’s attorney, Rachel Flor Pardo, said that after more than three years of legal proceedings “and the slander and misrepresentation that my client has been subjected to through Ashraf Hakimi’s defense,” the court’s decision “gives my client relief and hope.”
Hakimi, on the other hand, posted a message on the website X on Friday, saying that his case would have been cut short if not for his fame and that he sometimes felt like he had become an “easy target,” adding that the case was a loss not only to him but to his family, “and above all, to the truth.”
