Karim Benzema has been found guilty of conspiring to blackmail Mathieu Valbuena with a sex tape and handed a one-year suspended prison sentence plus a fine of $84,000.
A Versailles judge ruled on Wednesday that the Real Madrid and France star was part of an attempt to extort former international teammate Valbuena.
Five people went on trial last month as part of a case which has scandalized French soccer while both players lost their places with Les Bleus for a period.
The case relates to the summer of 2015 when both Benzema and Valbuena were together with the France national team and the former pressured the latter to pay off his blackmailers who he had agreed to act as an intermediary for, per prosecutors.
Benzema, 33, has always denied these allegations and said that he was only trying to aid Valbuena’s attempt to destroy the video.
“This judgement has left us fairly flabbergasted,” said Benzema’s lawyer. “We must and will appeal which will ultimately see him exonerated.”
French Football Federation president Noel Le Graet has already clarified recently that Benzema will remain available for selection regardless of the outcome and that the ultimate responsibility for his international status lies with current head coach Didier Deschamps.
