France manager Didier Deschamps has commented on a report claiming Kylian Mbappe is being investigated for rape in Sweden – an allegation the player has branded as "fake news".
A newspaper in Sweden on Monday claimed that the Real Madrid and France forward is being investigated for rape following a visit to Stockholm.
After Swedish outlet Aftonbladet reported that an alleged rape had been reported to police but did not say who was accused, another newspaper Expressen reported that Mbappe was the suspect.
Expressen claim that Mbappe is 'accused of rape and sexual molestation' and 'is being investigated on "reasonable suspicion" of sexual assault, which is on the lower end of the scale in the Swedish justice system'.
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The 25-year-old, who made a visit to the Swedish capital last week, is said to have dined at Chez Jolie restaurant in the Ostermalm area on Thursday, before moving on to a nearby nightclub called "V".
The publication 'understands that according to a police report, the alleged sexual assault took place on Thursday, October 10, with the alleged crime being reported to the police two days later'.
On Monday afternoon, Mbappe took to X, formerly Twitter, to respond to a newspaper article on the allegations. He wrote: "FAKE NEWS!!!! It's becoming so predictable, just before the hearing as if by chance."
A source close to Paris Saint-Germain, meanwhile, told AFP it would "ignore" Mbappe's claim that there was a link between the report in Sweden and his pay dispute with the Ligue 1 club - with a hearing into his alleged unpaid wages and bonuses to go before a French league committee on Tuesday.
On Monday evening, France manager Didier Deschamps commented on the reports after the player himself dismissed the allegations.
“Be careful when you pick things up,” he warned. “You had better take a bit of a step back before publishing anything and everything, but these things happen so often."
Deschamps added: “There are things that are not difficult to verify, but if you credit any old thing. In any case I am not going to talk to him about it. He is big enough to know how to communicate.”
Mbappe's entourage also released a statement on Monday.
"Today, a new slanderous rumour is starting to spread across the web from the Swedish media Aftonbladet," it read, as per AFP.
"These accusations are completely false and irresponsible, and their propagation is unacceptable.
"In order to put an end to this methodical destruction of (the) image (of Kylian Mbappe), 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 Mbappe is suffering repeatedly."
A prosecutor investigating the accusation told AFP: "A probe is under way into a crime that was reported on October 10 in the centre of Stockholm."
Topics: Didier Deschamps, France, Kylian Mbappe, Football, Real Madrid, Ligue 1
Jack Kenmare