Kylian Mbappé’s representative says legal action ‘will be taken’ against Swedish media over rape allegations
By George Ramsay and Saskya Vandoorne, CNN
(CNN) — A representative for Kylian Mbappé has denounced reporting in the Swedish press about the French soccer star as “totally false and irresponsible.”
Several Swedish outlets – including Swedish public broadcaster SVT, who cite “documents obtained,” and CNN affiliate Expressen, who cite a police report – reported that Mbappé is “suspected on reasonable grounds of rape” after visiting a nightclub and staying at a hotel in Stockholm on October 10.
According to Swedish police, suspicion on reasonable grounds means “that there are specific circumstances that indicate, to some extent, that the person in question has committed the act.”
Swedish prosecutors announced Tuesday that a criminal report had been submitted to the police following media reports about a suspected rape in Stockholm on Thursday.
The press release provided by the Swedish prosecutors did not identify any specific individuals, and prosecutors said that they could not provide any further details when contacted by CNN.
The 25-year-old Mbappé called the media reports “FAKE NEWS” in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, in response to a similar story posted by French outlet RMC Sport. RMC Sport later deleted its original social media post.
“A new slanderous rumor is starting to set the web ablaze, originating from the Swedish media AFTONBLADET and EXPRESSEN,” Mbappé’s representative told CNN on Tuesday through a public relations firm.
“These accusations are totally false and irresponsible, and their spread is unacceptable. Kylian Mbappé will not tolerate under any circumstances that his integrity, reputation and honor be tarnished by unfounded insinuations.
“In order to put an end to this methodical destruction of his image, all necessary legal actions will be taken to re-establish the truth and pursue any person or media involved in the moral harassment and defamatory treatment that Kylian Mbappé repeatedly suffers.”
Mbappé’s lawyer Marie-Alix Canu-Bernard appeared on French TV’s TF1 Tuesday night to defend her client, calling the reports a “slanderous denunciation.”
She said he went to training on Tuesday and described Mbappé as being “absolutely calm” despite the accusations.
However, Canu-Bernard said, “He is completely flabbergasted from this type of media frenzy and he doesn’t understand what could be held against him from afar or up close.”
Then on Wednesday, Canu-Bernard said in an interview with French outlet BFMTV that the media reports have had “an impact” and have been “complicated” for Mbappé to live with.
“I wish him every success in scoring as many goals as possible in his next match,” she said. “At some point, if this media frenzy and these thinly-veiled accusations persist and light is not shed quickly, he will be heard by the investigators.”
According to AFP, Mbappé traveled to Stockholm last week and spent Thursday and Friday in the Swedish capital.
The Real Madrid forward did not play in France’s past two UEFA Nations League games – victories over Israel and Belgium. The forward’s next possible appearance on the pitch will be with Los Blancos as they take on Celta Vigo in La Liga on Saturday.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the game against Celta de Vigo, Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti said that he is “not here to talk about speculation” around Mbappé.
“The player isn’t affected at all,” Ancelotti added. “The days of rest were planned for him and every player can choose what they want to do. I went to London two days and I didn’t ask permission from anyone. I don’t have a travel agency to organize trips for the players.”
CNN has reached out to Real Madrid for comment.
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CNN’s Henrik Pettersson, Jill Martin, David Close and Patrick Sung contributed to this report.
