Former star player of AS Monaco and former striker of the French team, Wissam Ben Yedder, now without a club and facing alcohol problems, must be tried on Tuesday afternoon in Nice, in the south of the France, for sexual assault, refusal to comply and driving while drunk.
The 34-year-old player, second top scorer in the history of the Monegasque club and selected 19 times for the French team between 2019 and 2022, is summoned at 1:30 p.m. before the criminal court. However, several cases are on the program, and the time of the actual start of his trial remains uncertain.
On September 6, during one of the many alcoholic evenings that now punctuate his life, Ben Yedder met a young woman who agreed to get into his car. He then allegedly placed his hand on her thigh, tried to kiss her, then masturbated in front of her.
Shocked, the victim quickly filed a complaint. Ben Yedder, still at the wheel of his car, was arrested with difficulty during the night, in Cap d’Ail, a town near Monaco.
His lawyers, Hasna Louzé and Marie Roumiantseva, confirmed that he will be present at the hearing and that he
“intends to take responsibility for his actions.” “Mr. Ben Yedder is contrite to have caused such a situation and is sincerely sorry for the complainant”
they added.
Placed under strict judicial control, despite the contrary opinion of the prosecution which had requested pre-trial detention, the Franco-Tunisian player risks up to 10 years in prison.
And this is only the beginning of his legal troubles: on December 27, he will be tried for psychological violence against his wife, with whom he is divorcing. Another young woman also accuses him of rape during an alcoholic evening during the summer of 2023, facts still under investigation.
In these two cases, Ben Yedder refutes the accusations.
In 2023, Ben Yedder was sentenced in Seville (Spain) to six months in prison for tax evasion. Another procedure also pits him against his former agent, Meïssa Ndiaye.
Born in Sarcelles, in the Paris region, Wissam Ben Yedder first distinguished himself in futsal, a discipline which allowed him to develop his technique, and in which he was also international. He began his professional football career in Toulouse before moving to Sevilla FC.
Arriving in Monaco in 2019, he scored 118 goals in 201 matches for the principality club, where he was captain for a long time. However, discussions around a contract extension failed, and the player with 19 caps and three goals with the Blues left AS Monaco almost discreetly at the end of the season.
