Karim Benzema gets one year in prison with suspended sentence

The "Sextape" scandal, launched in late 2015, in which the Real striker was accused of blackmailing his former national teammate Mathieu Valbuena released today a first verdict.

Sylvain Cormier and Antoine Vey, Karim Benzema's lawyers, were astonished by the gravity of the sentence handed down on Wednesday against their client by the Versailles court, in the case of Mathieu Valbuena's blackmail trial - an year in prison with suspended term and a fine of 75,000 euros, informs lequipe.fr . Lawyers representing the French international immediately announced that they will appeal this sentence.

"The reaction is one of anger at a decision that is perfectly contradictory. It was clearly stated by the court that Benzema was unaware of the previous maneuvers and in the end we are told, without evidence, that he could not have known this. He has received a severe, unjust sentence. We are astonished by this trial. The appeal is necessary, Karim Benzema will be disclaimed because he has nothing to reproach " , Cormier said: "This is a bad result, because it does not reflect at all the reality of the facts. Not being informed about the ins and outs of this thing, how could Karim Benzema have been an accomplice in this? I think there is a distortion of certain telephone interceptions, of which only negative elements were taken into consideration. While I remember that there are positive elements that should have cast doubt. The appeal is indisputable. Mr Benzema will come and explain and in my opinion it will all be clear. Obviously, his absence mattered in the decision, we can regret it because it is an approach that we had informed the court about ", said in his turn, Vey. "Karim Benzema was content to help his friend, there is no lie, there is no subterfuge, he knows nothing," he added.

Benzema was accused of being an intermediary between blackmailers and Valbuena.. The Real Madrid player allegedly determined his former teammate from the French team to pay the people who threatened to reveal an intimate video in which he appears. In November 2015, former French international Djibril Cisse and three other people were detained in a blackmail case targeting Valbuena. Cisse allegedly asked Valbuena for money in order not to publish a video in which his compatriot appears in intimate moments with his girlfriend. Cisse was subsequently released and acquitted of all charges.

Against the other four defendants in this case that shook the world of French football - Axel Angot, Mustapha Zouaoui, Younes Houass and Karim Zenati - the Criminal Court of Versailles handed down sentences of eighteen months in prison with suspension to two and a half years in prison with execution.

Karim Benzema (33 years old) is in excellent shape. He had 30 goals for Real Madrid last season, and in the current one he has just reached 14 goals in the 16 matches played in La Liga and the Champions League. It's just that today the French international received bad news. He will continue to be selected to the national team as he has already paid dearly for the "Sextape" scandal. Between 2015 and 2021, he was not part of the French national team, thus missing the participation in Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup. Before Euro 2020, after an absence of six years, Benzema returned to the group. And since then he has collected nine goals and two assists, in 13 selections, in the first national team. Prior to today's verdict, the president of the French Football Federation, Noel Le Graet, had announced that the player would continue to be selected to the national team, regardless of the court's decision.

This punishment should not threaten his return to the national French team, confirming what he said a few weeks ago. "The Head coach always remains responsible for the selection and Benzema will not be excluded in case of a possible judicial sanction. Even if he receives a suspended prison sentence, he will still have the opportunity to appeal. Therefore, his summons, or not in the coming months, will not be linked to this sentence ", said Le Graet.