STOCKHOLM/PARIS: Allegations of rape against French footballer Kylian Mbappe are “totally false” and “a slanderous rumor,” his representatives said on Tuesday, following media reports that he 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 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 rumor is starting to ignite the web,” a statement sent to Reuters by Mbappe’s representatives at PR 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 honor being sullied by unfounded insinuations.”
Mbappe posted a link to a French media story on the matter on X and wrote: “Fake News!!!!“
The France national team captain and Real Madrid forward had been 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 victim the following day, Expressen and daily 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.
Kylian Mbappe’s representatives say reports footballer faces rape probe are ‘false’ and a ‘slanderous rumor’
https://arab.news/jp6rf
Kylian Mbappe’s representatives say reports footballer faces rape probe are ‘false’ and a ‘slanderous rumor’
- Swedish public broadcaster SVT and dailies Expressen and Aftonbladet, citing unnamed sources, reported that Mbappe, 25, was a suspect in the case
- Mbappe’s representatives at PR firm Patricia Goldman said: “These accusations are totally false and irresponsible, and their propagation is unacceptable”
Saudi taekwondo champion Dunya Abu-Talib wins IOC Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Award for Asia
- Abu-Talib recognized for her inspiring contribution to empowering female athletes, IOC says
- Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s president, voices pride in the achievement
RIYADH: Taekwondo national team athlete Dunya Abu Talib has become the first Saudi sportsperson to win the International Olympic Committee’s Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Award for Asia.
Abu Talib, the first Saudi woman to qualify for the Olympic Games and win an Asian gold medal, was given the 2024 award in recognition of her inspiring contribution to empowering female athletes both locally and internationally, the IOC said in a statement on Friday.
Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee president, expressed his pride in the achievement, saying: “I congratulate Abu Talib on this well-deserved award, which reflects the significant progress in women’s sports in the Kingdom, thanks to the unlimited support of our wise leadership.”
The recognition shows that Saudi women are now playing a key role in global sports and serves as a motivation for the next generation of female athletes to achieve even greater success, he said.
Abu Talib ranked first globally in the International Taekwondo Federation’s general classification for the under-53 kg weight category for March 2025.
SOPC continues its commitment to supporting male and female athletes in the Kingdom by providing a comprehensive sports environment that enables them to achieve global success and raise the Saudi flag at the world’s leading sporting events.
‘No advantage’ in playing Champions Trophy matches in Dubai, says Indian batting coach
- The tournament’s tangled schedule, forcing teams to travel to Dubai to play India, has become controversial
- New Zealand head coach says his team has played a game in Dubai and will learn quickly from that experience
DUBAI: India playing all their Champions Trophy matches in Dubai was a pre-tournament decision and the talk of unfair advantage is baseless, the team’s batting coach said on Friday.
Rohit Sharma’s team face New Zealand in the title clash on Sunday at the Dubai International Stadium, where India have been unbeaten in four matches.
India refused to tour hosts Pakistan in the eight-nation tournament due to political tensions and were given Dubai as their venue in the United Arab Emirates.
“The draw that happened, it happened before,” batting coach Sitanshu Kotak told reporters. “After India winning four matches, if people feel that there is an advantage, then I don’t know what to say about it.”
The tournament’s tangled schedule, with teams flying in and out of the UAE from Pakistan while India have stayed put, has been hugely controversial.
South Africa batsman David Miller said “it was not an ideal situation” for his team to fly in to Dubai to wait on India’s semifinal opponent and then fly back to Lahore in less than 24 hours.
Even nominal hosts Pakistan had to jump on a jet and fly to Dubai to play India, rather than face them on home soil.
The pitches have been vastly different in the two countries.
Pakistan tracks produced big totals, in contrast to the slow and turning decks of the Dubai stadium.
“End of the day, I think in a game, you have to play good cricket every day when you turn up,” the 52-year-old Kotak said. “So the only thing they (critics) may say is that we play here. But that is how the draw is.”
“So nothing else can happen in that. It is not that after coming here, they changed something and we got an advantage,” he added.
India have been the team to beat after they topped Group A, which had New Zealand, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
They then beat Australia in the first semifinal.
New Zealand, led by Mitchell Santner, lost the last group game to India by 44 runs before they beat South Africa in the second semifinal in Lahore.
Kotak said the previous result between the two teams will have no bearing on their mindset going into the final.
“That depends how the New Zealand team thinks, but I think we should not think that,” said Kotak.
“We should just try and turn up and play a good game of cricket because there is no use thinking about the last match.”
New Zealand head coach Gary Stead said they are not too worried about India’s advantage.
“I mean, look, the decision around that’s out of our hands,” said Stead.
“So, it’s not something we worry about too much. India have got to play all their games here in Dubai. But as you said, we have had a game here and we’ll learn very quickly from that experience there as well.”
“And if we’re good enough to beat India on Sunday, then I’m sure we’ll be very, very happy,” he added.
Brighton boss Hurzeler targets ‘new peaks’ in Premier League
- Brighton’s extra-time FA Cup victory at Newcastle last weekend was a fifth straight win in all competitions
- Hurzeler has enjoyed an impressive first campaign at the club, who host Fulham on Saturday
LONDON: Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler has urged his side to “climb new peaks” as they seek to move into the Premier League’s top six.
The soaring Seagulls have been on an impressive run since being hammered 7-0 at Nottingham Forest on Feb. 1.
Brighton’s extra-time FA Cup victory at Newcastle last weekend was a fifth straight win in all competitions for the south coast side.
Hurzeler — at 32 the youngest permanent manager in Premier League history — has enjoyed an impressive first campaign at the club, who host Fulham on Saturday.
Marco Silva’s Fulham are ninth in the table, one place below Brighton as the race for European places hots up.
Hurzeler, two years younger than Brighton forward Danny Welbeck, has challenged his team to aim high.
The club’s best-ever Premier League finish was sixth, in the 2022/23 season, earning qualification for the Europa League.
“It is very important we focus on our journey and that we really believe in it,” Hurzeler said on Friday.
“Yesterday, I received a picture from a mountain. In a mountain you always have new peaks, new peaks you have to climb. That is the goal for us, we have to climb new peaks.”
He added: “Fulham will be a big, big challenge. They have played an unbelievable season, they play very compact as a team and have individual quality.”
Hurzeler said Japan winger Kaoru Mitoma would be available, having been forced off with cramp at Newcastle.
India football great Chhetri comes out of retirement aged 40
- The former captain, the fourth-highest men’s international goalscorer of all time, played his last match for India in June 2024 in a World Cup qualifier
- Chhetri said last year that “instinct” told him the match against Kuwait should be his last and he bowed out in front of nearly 59,000 fans in Kolkata
MUMBAI: Indian football legend Sunil Chhetri will return to the national team aged 40 in an unexpected reversal of his decision to hang up his boots last year.
The former captain, the fourth-highest men’s international goalscorer of all time, played his last match for India in June 2024 in a World Cup qualifier.
Chhetri said last year that “instinct” told him the match against Kuwait should be his last and he bowed out in front of nearly 59,000 fans in Kolkata.
But on Thursday, India head coach Manolo Marquez announced the return of India’s most-capped player for the March international window.
India are out of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup and are now targeting the Asian Cup in 2027.
“The qualification for the Asian Cup is very crucial for us. Given the importance of the tournament and the matches ahead, I discussed with Sunil Chhetri about making a comeback to strengthen the national team,” Marquez said in a statement from the All India Football Federation.
“He agreed, and so we have included him in the squad.”
India play a friendly against Maldives on March 19, in preparation for an Asian Cup qualifier against Bangladesh on March 25.
Football has struggled to find its feet among the 1.4 billion people of India, where the sport is dwarfed by the nation’s longstanding cricket obsession.
Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter once called India a “sleeping giant” of football.
Chhetri is a sporting icon in cricket-mad India.
The diminutive striker, who is 1.7 meters (5ft 7in) tall, made his debut against fierce rivals Pakistan in 2005 and scored India’s only goal.
Chhetri had two brief but unsuccessful spells in Portugal and the United States, but has spent most of his career in India.
In 2009 he was offered a contract by London club Queens Park Rangers, in England’s second tier, but he could not get a work permit.
Young Spanish star embraces transition from Barcelona to Al-Ittihad
- Unai Hernandez talks Saudi Pro League debut, fan support and Al-Ittihad’s title focus
JEDDAH: Although a statement addition to the Roshn Saudi League in January, Unai Hernandez had to wait a little before making his debut.
Maybe that was to be expected. The Spanish starlet, a feature of FC Barcelona’s reserve side this season, only made the transition from teenager to 20-year-old man a month before he left his homeland for Saudi Arabia.
Born in Barcelona, his transfer from the Spanish giants to Jeddah’s Al-Ittihad represented the midfielder’s first taste of the professional game outside his own country.
However, a few weeks after he left La Liga for the RSL, Hernandez finally got the opportunity to show what he could do in Al-Ittihad’s home clash against Al-Okhdood last Sunday.
The young star was introduced at Alinma Stadium as a 76th-minute substitute, replacing Saudi winger Abdulrahman Al-Obud.
For Hernandez, it was worth the wait.
“I am very happy to make my debut in this great team,” he said after the 1-1 draw. “Since I arrived, I was really eager to play, and well, it has been a tough match where we lost these points and the victory at the end.
“But we can’t relax. And we have to try to win every possible match."
Despite his tender years, Hernandez already sounds like a seasoned pro. It maybe helps that he is surrounded in the Al-Ittihad squad by some of football’s most decorated stars.
Among them are Karim Benzema, the club captain and winner of the 2022 Ballon d’Or. Then there is N’Golo Kante, a FIFA World Cup winner. And Fabinho, who, like Benzema, is a European champion who has won the UEFA Champions League.
As they have already followed the same path from Europe to Saudi Arabia, they will be crucial to helping Hernandez settle swiftly.
“I feel very comfortable with my new teammates,” Hernandez said. “The fans also support me a lot, and that makes me happy and gives me a lot of confidence when I go out for those minutes.”
Although he missed Thursday night’s 1-1 draw with Al-Qadsiah, he has said before that he hopes to play a role, no matter how big or small, in Al-Ittihad’s intended march to the title. With such a talented group of teammates, no doubt he is biding his time as he waits for his next chance to shine.
