Wissam Ben Yedder before the Nice court, southern France, on October 15, 2024. VALERY HACHE/AFP
The prospect of Wissam Ben Yedder appearing before a criminal court in France is becoming more likely. As reported by L'Equipe on Monday, November 3, an investigating judge from the Nice judicial court ordered the former French international striker to stand trial for rape, attempted rape and sexual assault. His brother, Sabri Ben Yedder, is also charged with rape and sexual assault. The investigating judge followed the prosecutor's request delivered on May 22, 2025.
"My client has vehemently denied the allegations against him from the very beginning of this case," said the striker's lawyer, Sophia Kerbaa, who intends to appeal the decision. The request will lead to a review of the legality of the order by an appeals court. Pending the next stage, Kerbaa emphasized that her client, who faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted, "remains presumed innocent."
The incidents for which the former captain of AS Monaco may be tried date back to the night of July 10 to July 11, 2023. That evening, on a beach in Saint-Laurent-du-Var, on the French Riviera, Wissam Ben Yedder and his brother, then 32 and 25 respectively, met two young women, 18 and 19, referred to as Olga and Iris. (Their names have been changed.) Both women were working as seasonal hotel workers in the region. After a visit to a shopping center to play arcade games, the brothers drove them, in the striker's car, to a rental apartment they had access to in the nearby town of Beausoleil.
