Kylian Mbappé's representative says legal action will be taken against Swedish media over rape allegations

CNN
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A representative for Kylian Mbappé has described Swedish press coverage of the French football star as “completely wrong and irresponsible”.

Several Swedish media outlets, including Swedish public broadcaster SVT, citing “received documents,” and CNN affiliate Expressen, citing a police report, reported that Mbappé was “suspected of rape on valid grounds,” after visiting a nightclub and staying at a hotel in Stockholm on October 10th.

According to the Swedish police, reasonable suspicion means “that there are certain circumstances that indicate to some extent that the person in question committed the crime.”

Swedish prosecutors announced on Tuesday that a criminal complaint had been filed with police on Thursday following media reports of an alleged rape in Stockholm.

No specific people were named in the press release from the Swedish public prosecutor's office.

When contacted by CNN, prosecutors said they could not provide further details.

The 25-year-old described these reports as “FAKE NEWS” in a post on X, formerly Twitter, responding to a similar story from French broadcaster RMC Sport. RMC Sport later deleted its original social media post.

“A new defamatory rumor originating from the Swedish media AFTONBLADET and EXPRESSEN is starting to send the Internet into a frenzy,” Mbappé's representative told CNN on Tuesday through a public relations firm.

“These allegations are completely false and irresponsible and their spread is unacceptable. Under no circumstances will Kylian Mbappé allow his integrity, reputation and honor to be damaged by unfounded allegations.

“In order to put an end to this systematic destruction of his image, all necessary legal actions will be taken to restore the truth and prosecute 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 French television's TF1 on Tuesday evening to defend their client.

Canu-Bernard called the reports a “slanderous denunciation” of Mbappé.

She said he went to training on Tuesday and described the Frenchman as “completely calm” despite the allegations.

However, Canu-Bernard said: “He is completely baffled by this kind of media hype and does not understand what he could be accused of from afar or up close.”

She continued: “We're talking about a complaint, a complaint filed – but at this point we don't know against whom. A complaint does not make the truth.”

The Real Madrid striker did not feature in France's last two games in the UEFA Nations League – a win against Israel and a win over Belgium.

CNN has contacted Real Madrid for comment.

According to AFP, Mbappé traveled to Stockholm last week and spent Thursday and Friday in the Swedish capital.

CNN's Henrik Pettersson, Jill Martin, David Close and Patrick Sung contributed to this report