PARIS: Real Madrid and France centre-forward Karim Benzema has been handed a one-year suspended prison sentence and fined €75,000 in the Mathieu Valbuena sextape trial.

Lawyers for Benzema have said he will appeal against a sentence which was heavier than the one requested by the prosecutor of Versailles. In the meantime fhe player’s place in the French national team has been placed into question.

The case began in 2015 when national team midfielder Valbuena received messages from two people telling him that they had a compromising video on him.

Benzema claimed he wanted to provide “friendly advice” to his teammate and put him in touch with Karim Zenati, an intermediary contacted by the two alleged blackmailers.

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