NICE, Nov 13 — Former France international footballer Wissam Ben Yedder received a suspended two-year jail sentence yesterday for sexually assaulting a woman in September.

Ben Yedder, 34, is the former captain of French Ligue 1 side Monaco and is second on the club’s list of all-time leading goalscorers. He left Monaco at the end of last season and has been without a club since.

On the evening of September 6, Ben Yedder met a woman during an inebriated outing and invited her into his car, according to the investigation.

There, the woman told police, he performed a sex act in front of her.

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. — AFP