French footballer Karim Benzema was sentenced to one year’s imprisonment for his involvement in blackmailing a former teammate from the national team, Matthieu Valbuena. The attacker of Real Madrid must also pay a fine of 75 thousand euros (1.9 million crowns).
According to investigators, the 33-year-old Benzema acted as a mediator in the case. A court in Versailles today punished him for trying to persuade Valbuena in 2015 to pay the blackmailers who threatened to publish his intimate video.
Benzem’s lawyer, Antoine Vey, immediately announced that his client, who could not play for the national team for a long time due to the affair, would appeal. The four-time Champions League winner returned to the national team before this year’s Euro after almost six years.
Nothing like Benzem is now in danger after the verdict. French President Noël Le Graët has previously said that even if the attacker is convicted, he will be able to play for the national team.
Along with Benzema, who insisted on his innocence from the beginning, four other charges were punished. According to the AFP agency, they were sentenced to eight months’ probation and two and a half years in prison.
Benzema did not attend today’s hearing, and in the evening he and Real will have the penultimate round of the basic group of the Champions League on the Tiraspol Sheriff’s Field.
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