Real Madrid player Karim Benzema facing jail term for speeding offense

A court in the Madrid suburb of Pozuelo de Alarcón will be in charge of a case against Real Madrid player Karim Benzema, after the Frenchman was caught by Civil Guard officers traveling in a high-powered Audi at 216km/h on a stretch of the M40 beltway with a 100km/h speed limit.

According to court sources, the Real forward will be facing a so-called “speedy trial” at a yet-to-be-disclosed date, after Benzema requested the original court date be changed given that it clashed with a scheduled match.

For the dangerous driving offense, which took place in the early hours of February 3, Benzema is facing a possible jail sentence of three to six months or a fine, as well as the loss of his driving license for between one and four years.

The soccer player was caught by a Civil Guard mobile traffic unit on the Pozuelo stretch of the M40 beltway, traveling at over 200km/h. A spokesperson for the DGT traffic department explained that given his excessive speed, Benzema was not stopped by a second unit located further along the road. This is standard practice by the authorities, in order to avoid endangering other drivers with a high-speed pursuit.

The DGT added that another two players from the club were stopped on the same night by the unit before being allowed to continue their journey. The identities of the pair — who were not speeding nor had broken any laws — have not been revealed.

In the afternoon of February 2, Real Madrid had lost 1-0 against Granada, thanks to an own-goal from Cristiano Ronaldo.

After catching Benzema speeding, Civil Guard officers informed the provincial traffic authorities of the infraction, supplying the license plate of the vehicle in question. Audi, the owner of the vehicle used by Benzema, identified the player as the driver of the vehicle.

Audi is a sponsor of Real Madrid, and in November last year handed over a fleet of its cars to the club’s first team for their use during the season. Benzema chose an Audi RS5 4.2 FSI.

This is not the first time that Benzema has had problems with cars. In November 2009, he emerged unscathed from an accident that saw him crash his Audi Q7 into a tree in the exclusive La Finca residential area, after Real Madrid lost against arch-rivals Barcelona.