FRENCH international soccer players Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema were to face trial for allegedly soliciting an underage prostitute, judicial sources said Tuesday.

    The two were among eight people that investigating magistrate Andre Dando has sent for trial as well as the Zaman Cafe on Paris’ Champs Elysees where the meetings with Zahia Dehar took place.

    Paris prosecutors had in 2011 requested that the case against the two French stars be dropped on the grounds that they did not know that Dehar was younger than 18. Both face a possible three years in prison or a 45,000-euro (US$55,600) fine.

    Dehar, now 20, told police she was paid for sex with Ribery in 2009 and Benzema in 2008, when she was 16. She claimed that both players were not aware that she was underage.(SD-Agencies)