Paris Saint-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi was given preliminary charges of rape, French prosecutors said on Friday.
The prosecutors office in the Paris suburb of Nanterre said Hakimi was questioned on Thursday by investigators probing rape allegations. He was then indicted by an investigating judge and placed under judicial supervision.
Under French law, preliminary charges mean there is reason to suspect a crime has been committed but it allows magistrates more time to investigate before deciding whether to send the case to trial.
Hakimi's lawyer, Fanny Colin, said the player "strongly denied accusations made against him," in a written message to The Associated Press.
Colin said her client being indicted is an "obligatory step for any person being accused of rape" and will allow Hakimi to defend himself by giving him access to the case. Colin also said that some elements collected by the judicial police show, according to her, that Hakimi "in this case has been subjected to a racketeering attempt."
The Morocco national team player has been prohibited from contacting the alleged victim, a 24-year-old woman who says she was raped by Hakimi on Saturday at his home in a Paris suburb. Hakimi is allowed to leave French territory, prosecutors said.
According to Le Parisien newspaper, which revealed the allegations earlier this week, the woman went to the police station on Sunday, where she accused him of rape.
The woman's lawyer, Rachel-Flore Pardo, said in a statement that preliminary charges show "there is reliable and consistent evidence."
"My client made the choice to confide in justice, and only in justice, and will speak only to justice," she said in a statement to the AP. "We won't tolerate any smear or destabilization campaign (against her)."
Prosecutors opened their preliminary investigation on Monday.
At a news conference on Friday, PSG coach Christophe Galtier said he would "answer no questions of a non-sporting nature (relating to) Achraf Hakimi."