Wissam Ben Yedder acquitted on appeal in psychological violence case against wife

Wissam Ben Yedder was acquitted Wednesday by the Aix-en-Provence appeals court in the psychological violence case against his wife, overturning the conviction handed down in first instance by Nice’s criminal court.

In the initial ruling, the former AS Monaco striker had been sentenced to a €90,000 fine. The Aix-en-Provence public prosecutor’s office, which confirmed the decision to L’Équipe, ultimately pronounced his acquittal. The 35-year-old footballer was suspected of having “deliberately exercised psychological violence” against his wife between March 2023 and February 2024. The case had been reopened by the Nice prosecutor’s office after his companion’s initial complaint, from whom he is in divorce proceedings, had been dismissed.

To justify the acquittal, the judges notably found that the complainant “made statements ‘lacking spontaneity’, in conversations she deliberately recorded”. According to the court, she had attempted to get Ben Yedder to say things “to compromise her spouse”.

This favorable decision does not, however, end the legal troubles of the French international, who scored three goals in his career wearing the tricolour. On June 10, Ben Yedder will be tried on appeal for sexual assault, a separate case in which he received a two-year suspended prison sentence in first instance.