The final sentence is slightly lower than the 10-month suspended sentence originally requested by the prosecution for inciting racial hatred based on religious grounds. Nice suspended him and the French Football Federation banned him for seven matches.

The charges against the international full-back relate to a video by preacher Mahmoud Al Hasanat that Atal shared on his Instagram account, which has 3.2 million followers, five days after Hamas's 7 October attack on Israel. 

In the video, after talking about the children killed in the bombings, Al Hasanat called on God to send a "black day for the Jews" and to "guide the hand" of Gazans who responded. 

Atal shared the video while with the Algerian national team in his home country, and removed it the next day after his club warned him of possible repercussions. He apologised in court, saying he wanted to send a "message of peace" and had not watched the entire 35-second video before posting it.

But neither the prosecutors nor the plaintiffs, who include a number of Jewish organisations, found Atal's explanations convincing. "The sharing of a video is meant to be part of his message and to give it visibility. There is no mention of peace in those 35 seconds," prosecutor Meggi Choutia said in remarks reported by AFP. 

Atal's lawyer, Antoine Vey, said the verdict was "expected given the circumstances and the strong political pressure" and indicated that they would likely to appeal the decision to the competent court.

Despite the controversy, Atal has been named in the squad for the upcoming AFCON tournament and has received a lot of support in his homeland. He is in his sixth successive season with Nice in the French Ligue 1, where he has made 117 appearances and scored 12 goals.