The jail term was confirmed to the Street Journal according to this reporter on Saturday night by an official of French Ministry of Justice but silent on whether there will be an appeal or not. The court sitting in Yvelines near Paris handed-out the guilty verdict on last year after examining facts of the rape of the young female compatriot he brought to France five years ago but waiting for the confirmation of the sentence by the Minister for Justice.

Judiciary sources indicated that Okpara had alleged that he had adopted the young girl. He later forced the girl to have sex with him several times in the garage where she slept. The former international refuted the rape allegation, saying the girl, who was 13 when she arrived in France, consented to have sex with him.

The same court also tried Okpara`s wife and mother-in-law of practicing "rape with torture and barbarism" by aiding and abetting the footballer in inflicting sexual violence on the girl.

Okpara, 33, was a member of the Super Eagles which lost on penalties to the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon in the final of the African Cup of Nations in 2000. He manned the defence position between 1999-2001 when he played for the French club, Paris Saint- Germain.

He won the French League Cup in 1997 with Strasbourg before moving to Standard Liege of Belgium, where he remained until last year.

Okpara, along with Victor Ikpeba, was one of the few members of the Scotland'89 Golden Eaglets to make it even though the team shockingly lost to Saudi Arabia in the quarter-finals of the competition of which they were one of the favourites after their exploits in the two previous editions.

Having won the maiden edition of the competition in 1985 in China, the Eaglets battled their way to the final in Canada two years later where they lost on penalties to the former USSR.

Incidentally, Okpara is the latest Nigerian international to be involved in rape incidence. Etim Esin, one of the nation's most gifted players, had been accused of the same offence when he was playing in Belgium and Super Eagles left sided defender Celestine Babayaro acquitted by a London court after being accused of rape by some British girls.