STOCKHOLM (AP) — Swedish prosecutors on Thursday dropped a rape investigation that was launched in connection with soccer star Kylian Mbappé's visit to Stockholm in October.
In a statement, lead investigator Marina Chirakova said there was not enough evidence to continue the investigation, which centered on an incident at a hotel.
“During the course of the investigation, there has been a designated person suspected on reasonable grounds of rape and two cases of sexual assault, but my assessment is that the evidence is not sufficient to proceed and the investigation is therefore closed," Chirakova said. “The designated person has not been notified of suspicion of a crime.”
Prosecutors never publicly named the suspect in the investigation, but many Swedish media reported it was Real Madrid striker Mbappé, who visited Stockholm in October during a break in the Spanish league.
At the time Mbappé’s legal team dismissed those reports as false.
Mbappe’s lawyer Marie-Alix Canu-Bernard and the player’s representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comments on Thursday.
In an interview that aired Sunday on French TV station Canal Plus, Mbappé said he was “surprised” by the reports that he was the subject of a rape investigation and he had not been contacted by Swedish authorities.
“These are things that come into your life like that, you can’t see them coming,” Mbappé told Canal Plus. “It’s just incomprehension. I don’t think it weighed on me in the sense that I have never considered myself involved.”
The 25-year-old soccer star appeared in Stockholm on Oct. 10 during an international break instead of playing for France in the Nations League. Just days later Swedish media reported he was the subject of a rape investigation.
At the time Swedish prosecutors confirmed that a rape investigation began but declined to comment further.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Karl Ritter, The Associated Press
