Soccer Football - Champions League - Atalanta v Real Madrid - Gewiss Stadium, Bergamo, Italy - December 10, 2024 Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe is substituted after sustaining an injury REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Swedish prosecutors closed a rape and sexual assault investigation on Thursday, saying there was insufficient evidence in a case that local media said involved French soccer star Kylian Mbappe. He has denied any wrongdoing.
The prosecution has declined to name the suspect in the case over the alleged incidents at a hotel in central Stockholm on October 10.
Swedish Senior Prosecutor Marina Chirakova said in a statement: "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," she said.
Swedish public broadcaster SVT and dailies Expressen and Aftonbladet, citing unnamed sources, reported in October that the suspect in the case was French footballer Kylian Mbappe, 25.
The allegations against him were "totally false" and "a slanderous rumour", Mbappe's representatives said at the time.
Following Thursday's announcement by the Swedish prosecution authority, Mbappe's club Real Madrid said they would not comment on the case. His lawyer and PR firm did not immediately respond to Reuters messages seeking comment.
Prosecutor Chirakova said the designated person had not been notified that they were a suspect in a crime.
(Reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen, Additional reporting by Simon Jennings, Editing by Terje Solsvik and Angus MacSwan)
