French club Toulouse announced the return of Moroccan international player Zakaria Abou Khalal to train with the first team, stressing his innocence of insulting the city's deputy mayor, an issue that has caused wide controversy in recent days.

The club said it had conducted extensive investigations into the accusation of Abu Khalal's altercation with the official following the team's recent French Cup triumph, and the account of the incident revealed by the French radio "RMC" was found to be untrue.

"We confirm that the investigation carried out by Toulouse has now been closed and the player has returned to the group as of today," the club said in a statement.

Communiqué Suite à notre enquête interne et aux multiples discussions qui en ont résulté, une rencontre entre Madame Laurence Arribagé
et notre joueur Zakaria Aboukhlal a eu lieu en présence de la direction du Club.

À la suite de cette réunion, nous en avons conclu... pic.twitter.com/pB6qDODHlx

— Toulouse FC (@ToulouseFC) May 18, 2023

RMC reported a few days ago that the 23-year-old got into a heated altercation with Laurence Arrebaget, deputy mayor of Toulouse and in charge of sports on April 30.

According to local radio, the player told the official that women in his country "don't talk to men like that", after she asked him to reduce the noise and shouting during the celebrations of winning the French Cup at the expense of Nantes 5-1.

Following the news, the club decided that Abu Khalduring would train "away from the professional team until further notice, and not comment pending the results of an internal investigation."

Toulouse explained on Thursday that "a meeting was held between Mrs. Lawrence Arrebaguet and our player Zakaria Abu during the presence of the club's management, and after this meeting we concluded that the facts reported by RMC do not really reflect what happened on April 30."

Abu Khalal had tweeted today, saying, "As a follow-up to the article published by RMC radio last Monday, I met with Lawrence Arrepigé and discussed the subject together, and we confirmed after the meeting that what was published by the French radio is far from the reality of what happened on April 30 last year at the Capitol."

pic.twitter.com/hjevvbeiHJ

— Zakaria Aboukhlal (@ZAboukhlal) May 18, 2023

"We would like to put an end to this controversy that has affected us and our families so much. Thank you for respecting our decision."

Al-Ragraki defends Abu Khalal

For his part, Moroccan national team coach Walid Regraki defended Zakaria Abou Khalal, saying in remarks highlighted by the radio "RMC", if there is one player who does not do this (offending the French official) and does not have around him such kind of stories, it is Zakaria Abu Khalal.

"I can confirm that he is a respected player, with a lot of good manners, and he has a great culture that he received from raising his parents, and I was very happy when I got to know them in Qatar (during the 2022 World Cup)."

Regraki (left) with coach Walid Regraki during the World Cup in Qatar (Reuters)

"In the World Cup in Qatar, Abu Khalal's behavior was above excellent, and in fact the team manager was a woman, and when she laughed loudly, Zakaria would bow his head in shame," he said.

"Abu Khalduring is a person of morality, who has respect for everyone, who often appeared proud to represent his country in the World Cup, and when he scored against Belgium, he did not exaggerate his joy," he added.