Benzema gets one-year suspended jail term

A Court in Versailles on Wednesday found France and Real Madrid player Karim Benzema guilty of conspiring to blackmail of fellow international team mate Mathieu Valbuena over a sex tape. 

The Court sentenced him to a one-year suspended jail term. He was handed a €75,000 fine as well.

Prosecutors said Benzema was working with a gang who blackmailed former France midfielder Valbuena.

Benzema's lawyer said they would appeal the decision: "We are quite flabbergasted by this judgment. An appeal is necessary. He will be exonerated at the height of this appeal."

The forward claimed he was only trying to help his fellow player when he approached him about the sex and told him he could help him find someone to manage the issue.

Valbuena said during the trial in October: "When he (Benzema) told me he wanted to talk to me, I did not think he would talk to me about that. When I had that conversation, I came out of the room, I was shocked. I felt that he insisted that I meet with a person who was to act as an intermediary. He was very insistent."