A court in France has found Karim Benzema guilty of complicity in the attempted blackmail of Mathieu Valbuena. He has been given a one-year suspended sentence and fined €75,000.
Benzema had denied any wrongdoing after prosecutors said he had encouraged former France international team-mate Valbuena to pay some blackmailers in order to keep a sexually explicit tape private.
Benzema, who did not attend the trial last month and was absent for the verdict, will appeal the conviction.
“This outcome in no way corresponds with the reality of events,” lawyer Antoine Vey said afterwards.
The four other defendants on trial were handed sentences of between 18 months suspended to two-and-a-half years in prison by a court in Versailles.
The case dates back to June 2015.