An appeal court in Caen, Normandy, began hearing the case of former AS Monaco defender Franck Dumas on Monday, March 19.
Now working as the coach for the national side of Equatorial Guinea, he had been sentenced to three years in jail, with 10 months suspended, at an original hearing in January 2016, after being found guilty of hiding €557,496 from the French tax man.
Dumas had incurred the debt while coaching Caen from January 2011 until the end of 2013. He said at the time that an addiction to gambling was to blame for the fact that his tax bills were not paid.
The 50-year-old had played as a defender for AS Monaco from 1992 to 1997, having started as a player at Caen. After his spell in the Principality he played for Newcastle United in 1999 and then returned to France to play for Marseille before going back to Caen. He began his management career in 2004.
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