By Johan Ahlander and Julien Pretot
STOCKHOLM/PARIS (Reuters) -Allegations of rape against French footballer Kylian Mbappe are “totally false” and “a slanderous rumour”, his representatives said, and his lawyer said he was beyond reproach, following media reports that Mbappe was the subject of an investigation over an incident in a Stockholm hotel on Oct. 10.
Swedish prosecutors confirmed in a statement in response to the media coverage that a probe into an alleged rape at a hotel in central Stockholm had been opened, but they did not identify a suspect.
Swedish public broadcaster SVT and dailies Expressen and Aftonbladet, citing unnamed sources, reported that Mbappe, 25, was a suspect in the case.
“A new slanderous rumour is starting to ignite the web,” a statement sent to Reuters by Mbappe’s representatives at public relations firm Patricia Goldman said. “These accusations are totally false and irresponsible, and their propagation is unacceptable.
“Kylian Mbappe will under no circumstances tolerate his integrity, reputation and honour being sullied by unfounded insinuations.”
“We do not know who the complaint is against, I do not know if the complaint is targeting him,” Mbappe’s lawyer, Marie-Alix Canu-Bernard, told French TV channel TF1 on Tuesday.
“He is never alone, he is never exposed to a risk-taking situation. It totally excludes that there could have been any reprehensible behaviour on his part. It is an absolute certainty. He is serene but flabbergasted by the media frenzy. He does not understand what can be reproached to him.
“He has done nothing wrong,” Canu-Bernard said, adding that Mbappe would cooperate with the Swedish justice system if he was to be directly targeted by an investigation.
Mbappe posted a link to a French media story on the matter on X on Monday and wrote: “Fake News!!!!”
The France national team captain and Real Madrid forward was on a private trip to the Nordic country’s capital last week with a group of friends, Swedish media reported.
Mbappe and his friends left Sweden on Friday, Oct. 11. A report of the allegations against Mbappe was made to police by an unidentified person the following day, Expressen and Aftonbladet reported.
“In response to media reports about a suspected rape in Stockholm, the prosecutor can confirm that a criminal report has been submitted to the police,” the Swedish Prosecution Authority said in a statement on Tuesday.
Reuters could not independently confirm the identity of the alleged victim or the circumstances surrounding the alleged assault.
Senior Prosecutor Marina Chirakova declined to comment further when reached by Reuters.
SVT and tabloid Expressen, citing unnamed sources, reported that the level of suspicion directed at Mbappe by investigators was “reasonable” – the lower of the two levels in the Swedish legal system. The higher level, “probable suspicion”, is usually required to have a suspect remanded in custody.
Mbappe trained with his Real Madrid teammates on Tuesday. The club did not immediately respond when asked if they were aware of the investigation and whether it had been contacted by the Swedish authorities.
(Reporting by Johan Ahlander, Julien Pretot, Anna Ringstrom, Louise Breusch Rasmussen and Terje Solsvik; editing by Richard Lough, Alex Richardson and Leslie Adler)
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