Ribery and Benzema acquitted

The France stars were accused of knowingly having sex with an under-age prostitute, but will not face prosecution after being acquitted on Thursday

Bayern Munich star Franck Ribery and Real Madrid's Karim Benzema have both been acquitted over charges of soliciting an under-age prostitute.

Ribery, 30, admitted to paying for sex with Zahia Dehar back in 2009, but denied being aware that she was younger than 18 at the time of the incident.

Benzema, 26, rejected all accusations of having any sexual involvement with the same girl, with the Criminal Court of Paris ruling there was not enough evidence to prosecute either player.

The age of consent in France is 15, but paying for intercourse with someone below the age of 18 is classed as having sex with a minor.

Ribery, Benzema and Zahia all opted not to attend the court case.