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Rabat – Moroccan footballer Zakaria Aboukhlal is reportedly preparing to file a complaint against RMC Sport, which last week attributed serious “misogynistic” remarks to the Moroccan forward.
Aboukhlal is “determined” to have justice restored to his personal and professional image, reported French sports news outlet L’Equipe, stressing that the Moroccan football player is “preparing to sue RMC for defamation, which in his view has tarnished his reputation.”
RMC Sport published last week a controversial report, attributing serious “misogynistic” claims against the Moroccan football player.
The sport news outlet claimed that Aboukhlal made “misogynistic” remarks against Laurence Arribage, Toulouse’s deputy mayor in charge of sports.
According to RMC Sport, the Moroccan player had dismissed Arribage’s request that he and his Toulouse FC teammates make “less noise” during a speech by the team’s head coach.
The report claimed Aboukhlal dismissed Arribage’s request and allegedly told her: “At home, women don’t talk like that to men.”
Both Aboukhlal and Arribage denied RMC Sport’s claims.
“Following the article published by RMC on Monday, May 15th, I had the opportunity to meet and discuss with Laurence Arribage. During the meeting, we both confirmed the RMC SPORT reports do not match what has really happened on 30th of April at the Capitole,” Aboukhlal said earlier today.
Laurence also denied the claims, stressing that the incident “has greatly affected me and my loved ones.”
She added: “For me the subject is closed and I will not speak any more on the subject. Please respect my decision.”
Toulouse FC also issued a communique today, announcing that the football player is returning to train with the squad as of today.
The club launched an internal investigation following RMC’s report to determine the circumstances of the alleged claims targeting the Moroccan football player.
The investigation emphasized that the “facts” reported by RMC do not reflect “what happened” between Aboukhlal and the deputy mayor in charge of sports in Toulouse.
