Representatives for Kylian Mbappe issued a statement on Tuesday denying the player’s involvement in a rape investigation in Sweden after local media reported that he was a subject of the probe. The Swedish Prosecution Authority said Tuesday that the incident took place the previous Thursday at a hotel in central Stockholm, per The Guardian. The organization also said that a criminal report was submitted to the police after the incident, but offered no further specifics on the investigation.
On Monday, several Swedish publications reported that Mbappe is “reasonably suspected” of rape, which is considered the lowest level of suspicion in the country’s legal system.
According to the outlets, the player was in Stockholm on Thursday on a personal trip with friends, since he was omitted from France’s squad for this month’s international window while he recovers from a thigh injury. Mbappe was reportedly at restaurant Chez Jolie and then nightclub V on the night of the incident before leaving the city on Friday.
The reports prompted a response from Mbappe’s representatives, who described them as “false.”
“A new slanderous rumor is starting to ignite the web,” representatives at public relations firm Patricia Goldman said on Mbappe’s behalf in a statement issued to Reuters on Tuesday. “These accusations are totally false and irresponsible, and their propagation is unacceptable. Kylian Mbappe will under no circumstances tolerate his integrity, reputation and honor being sullied by unfounded insinuations.”
Mbappe’s lawyer further denied his involvement while speaking to French media on Tuesday.
“We do not know who the complaint is against, I do not know if the complaint is targeting him,” lawyer Marie-Alix Canu-Bernard said. “He is never alone, he is never exposed to a risk-taking situation. It totally excludes that there could have been any reprehensible behavior 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.”
The responses from Mbappe’s representatives come a day after the player himself took to social media to deny his involvement in the investigation. He reposted a since-deleted post on X from Swedish daily tabloid Aftonbladet on Monday, describing the story as “fake news” and suggesting it was published to line up with Tuesday’s hearing in front of a French league committee over his claim that Paris Saint-Germain owe him around $60 million in unpaid wages.
A PSG spokesperson said the club would maintain their “dignity and class” and otherwise opted out of commenting on Mbappe’s suggestion, per The Guardian.
Mbappe trained with Real Madrid on Tuesday as normal.
