Swedish rape inquiry linked to footballer closed
Swedish prosecutors have closed an investigation into an alleged rape that Swedish media linked to French football captain Kylian Mbappe.
The investigation into an alleged attack in Stockholm has been closed due to a lack of evidence, Marina Chilakova of the Swedish Prosecution Service said.
The Real Madrid player, one of football’s most high-profile stars, was never officially named by Swedish prosecutors and was never notified of their alleged crimes.
When the allegations surfaced in October, Mbappe’s lawyer said her client was preparing to clear his name through a defamation claim. Mbappe has previously described the reports as “fake news”.
Ms Chilakova, the senior prosecutor in charge of the preliminary investigation, considered the evidence “insufficient to proceed further and the investigation has therefore been closed”.
The footballer’s lawyer declined to comment, Le Figaro reported.
According to reports, the alleged rape and two cases of sexual harassment took place at a hotel in the Swedish capital on October 10.
Several Swedish media outlets, including Aftonbladet and Expressen newspapers and public broadcaster SVT, named Mbappe as a suspect.
He was visiting Stockholm at the time.
Police were seen arriving at the Bank Hotel where he was staying and then leaving with the luggage. One report said they took clothing from the hotel as evidence.
Mbappe spoke about the case for the first time on Sunday on French TV show Clique, saying he had “no involvement”.
“I didn’t receive anything, no subpoena… I had no part in it.”
his Lawyer previously condemned Swedish media The report was defamatory and stated that it had no knowledge of the complaint.
“(Mbappe) was never alone. He was never put in a situation that would ultimately lead to him taking risks,” Marie-Alix Kanu-Bernard said.
Real Madrid forward of the week Scored his 50th Champions League goal. He moved from Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) earlier this year.
He won the World Cup as a teenager in Russia in 2018 and scored a hat-trick in the 2022 final in Qatar, where France lost on penalties to Lionel Messi’s Argentina.
At PSG, he formed a superstar trio with Lionel Messi and Brazilian striker Neymar.
Last year, the Paris-born star finished third in the Ballon d’Or and FIFA’s Best Men’s Player awards.
