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Real Madrid's Karim Benzema to be tried on appeal in sex-tape trial

Karim Benzema will be tried in a French court on June 30 following his appeal against being found guilty of "complicity" in the sex-tape case against former teammate Mathieu Valbuena.

The Real Madrid striker appealed against the one-year suspended prison sentence and the €75,000 fine for his involvement in the attempted blackmail of Valbuena over a sex-tape.

The appeal, which is expected to last two days, will take place in the same venue as the initial legal process in Versailles.

Benzema was accused of encouraging Valbuena to pay a suspected group of blackmailers to keep the sexually explicit tape out of the public eye.

Four other men -- Axel Angot, Mustapha Zouaoui, Younes Houass and Karim Zenati -- were also found guilty and received prison sentences.

Benzema has always denied any wrongdoing and his lawyers stated after the November trial that the player will do everything possible to defend himself on appeal.

His legal team did not confirm whether Benzema will attend the court case after he missed the three-day trial in November for professional reasons.

By June 30, Benzema will be on holiday with no work commitments for Madrid or the France national team.

Valbuena and Benzema both lost their places in the national team because of the scandal, dubbed the "sex-tape affair."

Benzema returned last year to the national team after a five-year absence.

Ahead of the November trial, France Football Federation president Noel Le Graet said that Benzema "will not be excluded" from Les Bleus if he were found guilty.

On Monday, the 34-year-old became the all-time leading French goalscorer with 413 goals after finding the back of the net twice in Madrid's 3-0 win at Mallorca.

The striker has enjoyed an impressive campaign so far with 32 goals in 34 games and is the top scorer in LaLiga with 22 to his name.