France’s soccer star Kylian Mbappé reports sick to the national team and celebrates in Stockholm. The police there are now investigating rape and sexual harassment. His lawyer goes on the attack and wants to file a complaint herself.
Kylian Mbappé is currently facing serious allegations. The 25-year-old soccer star is being investigated in Sweden for rape and sexual harassment. The Stockholm public prosecutor’s office has confirmed this. In a statement it said: “Following media reports about an alleged rape in Stockholm, the public prosecutor can confirm that a report of rape has been received by the police.” The public prosecutor’s office did not name the suspect.
What had happened? Kylian Mbappé, captain of the French national team, used a self-imposed break from the team to go on a trip to Stockholm with friends from Wednesday to Friday. The alleged crime is said to have taken place in a hotel in the Swedish capital last Thursday. He had canceled his participation in two Nations League games for health reasons, although he had recently been back on the pitch for Real Madrid.
He traveled to Stockholm last week on a private jet to “charge his batteries.” Now the English “Mail” and other newspapers are reporting new details about Mbappé’s short trip. Accordingly, he visited the exclusive nightclub “V”, where guests are allegedly asked to put their cell phones in envelopes, and took part in “private parties” there.
According to the Swedish newspaper “Expressen”, the 2018 world champion rented the “ping pong room” there, where he then celebrated with 30 guests, most of whom were women. As the Swedish influencer and presenter Julia Franzen (34) reports to the newspaper, she was invited to a party with Mbappé and the French national team in Turin in 2018. There too she would have had to “put her phone in a box”.
BBC and “Le Parisien” with further reports
The alleged crime is said to have taken place in the “Bank” hotel. According to a report by the BBC, officials visited the hotel on Monday and seized clothing as evidence.
The French newspaper “Le Parisien” also reports on the allegations. It says that Mbappé is said to have had a sexual relationship with a woman in Stockholm that he considered consensual. And that he then exchanged messages with her via cell phone. The reports are in stark contrast to Mbappé’s statements about his lawyers.
As the French newspaper further writes, Nordi Mukiele (26), a friend and ex-teammate of Mbappé, was also said to have been in Stockholm. According to the newspaper, it was also the Bayer Leverkusen player who persuaded Mbappé to travel to Stockholm for relaxation and entertainment.
Mbappé’s lawyer: “Defamatory rumor”
Mbappé defends himself against the allegations and described a report in the newspaper “Aftonbladet” about an alleged rape in the hotel as “fake news”. Speaking to the AFP news agency, Mbappé representatives described the allegations as a “defamatory rumor”.
“He knows that he has absolutely nothing to blame himself for,” his lawyer Marie-Alix Canu-Bernard told broadcaster TF1. “Kylian is undeterred. He knows what he has done and, above all, what he has not done. He is very calm,” Canu-Bernard told the newspaper Le Parisien. You will file a complaint for defamation or alleging an imaginary crime.
In the paper she continued: “There is enormous caution around him.” Mbappé is never alone. “He doesn’t go out alone, he doesn’t come home alone. When he has company, there is always someone around him.” He took these precautions because it was clear that he could be targeted by someone with evil intentions.
Mbappé’s lawyer said Mbappé was taken aback by the allegations. “We don’t even know whether they really affect him.” This was not found out by the judiciary. It is also not known who made the allegations. “Kylian doesn’t know who it’s about. He doesn’t know what is being alluded to. He doesn’t understand.”
The legal situation in Sweden
If the allegations are confirmed, he would encounter a comparatively strict legal situation in Sweden. On July 1, 2018, the so-called “samtyckeslagen” – a type of sex consent law – came into force in Sweden. The law states that some form of mutual assurance or consent from the sex partners is necessary before the sexual act.
According to a report by “Amnesty International” (2022), a similar legal situation applies in 14 out of 31 countries in Europe, including Belgium, Croatia and Spain. Sweden is considered to be the country that interprets rape law most harshly in Europe.
mel with dpa
