In February 2023, a woman then aged 24 told police in Val-De-Marne southeast of Paris that Hakimi had raped her.

The 27-year-old footballer denies any wrongdoing.

“Today, a rape accusation is enough to justify a trial, even though I contest it and everything proves that it is false,” he wrote on X on Tuesday.

“I await this trial calmly, which will allow the truth to come out publicly.”

Hakimi’s lawyer Fanny Colin said a trial had been ordered and the prosecutor in the Nanterre suburb of Paris confirmed.

“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,” Colin said.

PSG coach Luis Enrique when asked about it at Tuesday’s press conference, ahead of the Champions League play-off second leg match with Monaco, said: “This matter is in the hands of the authorities.”

The plaintiff’s lawyer, Rachel-Flore Pardo, said her client was relieved to hear the case was going to court.

She said the judiciary had been exemplary in handling the case.

But 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,” she added.

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