Former Ivory Coast international footballer Aboulaye Traore has been sentenced to three years in jail for rape, an Ivorian women’s rights group reported.
Nicknamed Ben Badi, the striker won the 1992 African Cup of Nations with the Elephants and remains a very popular figure in the West African country.
In a statement, the Ivorian League for Women’s Rights said that the Bouake court handed down the three-year sentence on Wednesday, hailing a “significant advance in the fight against impunity for sexual and sexist violence”.
Besides the jail term, the court ordered “the payment of 15 million CFA francs to the victim” ($26,700) and a five-year ban on appearing in the central region, the rights group said.
According to a judicial source, the footballer was found guilty of having non-consensual sexual relations in March 2021 with a woman who was 21 years old at the time.
Before his retirement, Traore was a cult hero for Abidjan’s ASEC Mimosas, and also appeared for several European clubs, including FC Metz in France and Portugal’s Braga.
