EX-LIVERPOOL star Djibril Cisse has landed an eight-month suspended jail term in France – for failing to submit his tax returns.
The France striker won the Champions League during his two seasons at Anfield, scoring 24 goals in 82 games.
ReutersDjibril Cisse was handed an eight-month suspended jail term[/caption]
AP:Associated PressThe former Liverpool striker was also fined £17,000[/caption]
Eccentric Cisse, 43, left for Marseille in 2006.
He later played for Sunderland and QPR, and now works as a DJ and a pundit – and even did some modelling for Lidl.
But a court in Bastia sentenced him on Wednesday after hearing his Corsica-based accountancy firm had been late in reporting details.
Cisse was also fined £17,000 – 20,000 euros – after the judge found him guilty of abusing social funds.
However, the ex-international revealed his relief at not being punished for tax evasion.
Cisse declared: “As I have always said, I have never cheated the taxman.
“The court has proved me right.”
Cisse’s lawyer Malcolm Mouldaia added: “This was a tax fraud case, but my client has been acquitted.
“I am delighted.”
Prosecutors had called at a hearing in September for the footballer to receive a fixed one-year jail term, plus two years suspended and an £85,000 fine.
The trial heard an account set up to handle Cisse’s tax affairs was £465,000 in debt.
Liverpool paid Auxerre £14million for Cisse in 2004, and he helped the Reds win the FA Cup the year after the unforgettable comeback against AC Milan in Istanbul.
He left for Marseille, initially on loan, and went on to play in Greece, Italy, Qatar, Russia, Reunion and Switzerland as well as stints with the Black Cats and the Hoops.
Cisse won 41 caps for France, scoring nine goals.
Two of his sons are now making their own way in football with Cassius Clay Cisse at Notts County and Prince Kobe on the books at Liverpool.
AP:Associated PressCisse won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005[/caption]