The lawyer for French football star Kylian Mbappé said on Thursday (12) that Swedish prosecutors have dropped a rape and sexual assault investigation involving her client.
The Real Madrid and French national team striker denied any wrongdoing in the case surrounding alleged incidents at a hotel in central Stockholm on October 10.
Prosecutors have not publicly named the suspect in the case, but said they dropped the investigation into the alleged incidents in Stockholm due to a lack of sufficient evidence.
“I confirm,” Mbappé’s lawyer Marie-Alix Canu-Bernard wrote in a text message when asked by Reuters whether the Swedish investigation into the footballer had been closed.
Canu-Bernard said he would comment on the matter later on Thursday.
In a previously issued statement, Senior Prosecutor Marina Chirakova said: “During the course of the investigation, there was one person designated as a suspect on reasonable grounds of rape and two cases of sexual assault.”
“But my assessment is that the evidence is not sufficient to proceed and therefore the investigation is closed,” she said.
Swedish court documents obtained by Reuters showed that the alleged victim decided not to participate further in the investigation, leading the prosecutor to drop the case.
“The evidence obtained in the investigation is not, in itself, sufficient to conclude the preliminary investigation, in view of the fact that the complainant no longer wishes to participate in the investigation,” Chirakova wrote in a ruling delivered to the Stockholm District Court.
The alleged victim’s attorney declined to comment.
The investigation followed normal procedures, according to Chirakova.
The “designated person” in the case was not notified that they were suspected of a crime, she said.
Swedish public broadcaster SVT and newspapers Expressen and Aftonbladet, citing unnamed sources, reported in October that Mbappé was the suspect in the case.
The player’s representatives said at the time that the allegations against him were “completely false” and “a slanderous rumor.”
Following Thursday’s announcement by the Swedish prosecuting authority, Mbappé’s club Real Madrid said it would not comment on the case. His press office did not immediately respond to messages from Reuters seeking comment.
