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Karim Benzema found guilty in 'sex-tape blackmail' case

French footballer Karim Benzema, who plays for Real Madrid and the France national team, has been handed a one-year suspended jail term and a fine of 75,000 euros after he was found guilty by a Versailles court of conspiring with others to blackmail a team-mate over a sexually explicit video found on his mobile phone.

La rédaction de Mediapart

This article is freely available.

France and Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema has been found guilty of conspiring to blackmail a fellow French footballer with a sex tape, reports BBC News.

A judge handed Benzema a one-year suspended jail term and ordered him to pay a 75,000-euro (£63,000; $84,000) fine.

Benzema, 33, was one of five people put on trial last month over an attempt to extort Frenchman Mathieu Valbuena.

The scandal has stunned the football community in France and both players lost their national team places.

The case dates back to June 2015, when the two footballers were at a French training camp.

At the camp, Benzema put pressure on Valbuena to pay off the blackmailers, whom he had conspired with to act as an intermediary, prosecutors said.

Benzema has always denied the allegations and insisted he was only trying to help Valbuena get rid of the compromising video.

The player has since returned to the France team and is expected to start for Real Madrid on Wednesday night when they play FC Sheriff Tiraspol in the Champions League.

Benzema was not present in court in Versailles for the verdict, nor was Valbuena who plays for Greek club Olympiakos.

Four of Benzema's co-defendants in the trial were also found guilty on Wednesday. They were handed jail sentences ranging from 18 months suspended to two-and-a-half years in prison.

Benzema's lawyers said they would appeal his conviction.

Read more of this report from BBC News.