Prosecutors in France filed a petition with the court on Thursday to have Karim Benzema tried for his role in the lingering racketeering case surrounding Mathieu Valbuena.
Benzema was suspected in 2015 of involvement in the blackmailing of Valbuena, his then teammate with the French national team. The striker acknowledged involvement in the case in November of that year, but stated that he had to mediate between his friend Karim Zenati and Valbuena.
Zenati had a midfielder’s sex tape and threatened to make the video public unless Valbuena paid 150,000 euros to him. Benzema is said to have encouraged his former teammate to meet that requirement.
The 32-year-old attacker from Real Madrid was not prosecuted for his role in the case years ago, but must now still fear for a punishment. The court must decide whether there should indeed be a trial against Benzema.
The protracted case affected Benzema’s sporting career, which was banned from contact with Valbuena and has not been called up to the national team ever since. The 81-time international of France therefore played his last international match in October 2015.
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