Wissam Ben Yedder, a former international footballer from France, was sentenced to a suspended two-year prison term on Tuesday for sexually abusing a woman in September.
Ben Yedder, 34, is the ex-captain of French Ligue 1 club Monaco and is second on the team’s all-time most goalscorers list. He departed Monaco at the conclusion of the previous season and has remained unattached since.
On the evening of September 6, Ben Yedder encountered a woman on a drunken outing and thereafter invited her into his vehicle, as per the inquiry.
The woman informed the police that he engaged in a sexual conduct in her presence.
The woman immediately filed a complaint with police, who arrested Ben Yedder later that night.
“I don’t remember anything, I can’t say if I did it. It’s because of alcohol that I’m here,” Ben Yedder, who entered a rehab programme after the incident, said during the trial. He did not attend the sentencing on Tuesday.
Ben Yedder is also the defendant in another case going to trial in December in which he is charged with psychological violence against his wife. The couple is in the process of divorcing.
Ben Yedder also stands accused by another woman of raping her in the summer of 2023. Police are still investigating that claim.
He has denied both accusations.
Ben Yedder started his professional career in Toulouse before moving to Spanish side Sevilla.
A Spanish court in 2023 found him guilty of tax fraud while he was living in the country, and gave him a six-month suspended sentence.
He arrived at Monaco in 2019 where he scored 118 goals in 201 matches, but his contract was not extended when it expired this year.
He scored three times for the French national team in 19 matches.
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