Swedish prosecutors end investigation over Mbappe-linked rape case which took place in Stockholm in October.
Swedish prosecutors have dropped a rape investigation that was reportedly launched in connection with Kylian Mbappé’s visit to Stockholm in October.
The probe had focused on an incident at a hotel, but chief investigator Marina Chirakova stated in a statement issued on Thursday that there was insufficient evidence to proceed.
“During the course of the investigation, there has been a designated person suspected on reasonable grounds of rape and two cases of sexual assault, but my assessment is that the evidence is not sufficient to proceed and the investigation is therefore closed,” Chirakova said. “The designated person has not been notified of suspicion of a crime.”
Although the suspect in the case was never identified by the prosecution, some Swedish media sites said it was Mbappé, the striker for Real Madrid, who travelled to Stockholm in October during a lull in the Spanish La Liga season.
Mbappé’s legal team at the time denied the reports as untrue. A request for comment on Thursday was not immediately answered by Mbappé’s representatives or his attorney, Marie-Alix Canu-Bernard.
Speaking on the French television network Canal Plus last Sunday, Mbappé stated that he was “surprised” to learn that he was being investigated for rape and that Swedish officials had not gotten in touch with him.
“These are things that come into your life like that, you can’t see them coming,” Mbappé told Canal Plus. “It’s just incomprehension. I don’t think it weighed on me, in the sense that I have never considered myself involved.”
Instead of playing for France in the Nations League, the 25-year-old football player chose to recuperate from a thigh injury by travelling to Stockholm on October 10 during an international break.
Days later, he was the focus of a rape inquiry, according to Swedish media. On social media, Mbappé called the rumours “fake news,” and in a statement to AFP, his entourage flatly disputed the reports. The statement declared, “These accusations are wholly untrue and reckless, and their dissemination is intolerable.”
“There is nothing else that the prosecutor can confirm nor deny,” Swedish prosecutors told the Guardian at the time, acknowledging that a rape probe had started but declining to elaborate.
Real Madrid revealed later Thursday that Mbappé is doubtful for the Intercontinental Cup final next week due to a fresh injury to his left thigh. After scoring the game’s first goal, the forward was replaced during the first half of Madrid’s 3-2 Champions League victory over Atalanta on Tuesday.
Mbappé, who also scored in the team’s 3-0 victory over Girona last weekend, is expected to miss Saturday’s league match at Rayo Vallecano and will have to compete to be fit for next Wednesday’s final in Qatar, where he will face either Pachuca of Mexico or Al Ahly of Egypt.