At the height of his career, the past caught up with Benzema
Mathieu Valbuena (left) and Karim Benzema played together in the French national team until the sextape affair
Source: AFP / FRANCK FIFE
Karim Benzema has been in great shape on the pitch for weeks. But now the striker has to answer in court. It’s about blackmailing a former teammate. Benzema faces severe punishment.
Karim Benzema currently meets as he wants. In the Spanish league, he clearly leads the scorer list with nine goals. In the national team, the Frenchman last met in both Nations League games against Belgium and Spain. And the attacker also met in the sovereign 5-0 Real Madrid at Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Tuesday evening.
Almost logically, Benzema is on the shortlist for the Ballon d’Or award. After all, he’s in the shape of his life, and things are almost perfect on the field.
It looks different next to the square. Benzema has to answer four other men in a sex video trial opened on Wednesday. The court in Versailles near Paris accuses the defendants of attempted extortion and in one case of abuse of confidence, Benzema is charged with aiding and abetting an attempted extortion. The professional threatens up to five years imprisonment and a fine of 75,000 euros. The hearing should last until Friday.
The case dates back to June 2015, when French midfielder Mathieu Valbuena, a former national team-mate Benzema, was threatened with the publication of an intimate video on a phone call. “It was never about a sum of money, but there was a threat with people who told me they had something against me,” Valbuena said in court. He appears as a joint plaintiff, just like the French Football Association (FFF).
Technology freak is said to have come across the video in 2014
Benzema is suspected of having acted as an accomplice. Because of the involvement in the affair, Benzema had missed the EM in 2016 in his own country. He is said to have tried to persuade his colleague to talk to a middleman who could help Valbuena. According to the broadcaster France Info, it is said to have been Karim Zenati, a childhood friend of Benzema and a member of the extortion team. “He doesn’t take us seriously,” Benzema is said to have said to Zenati after talking to Valbuena on the phone.
According to “L’Équipe”, the origin of the affair is a debt of 25,000 euros, which was to be paid off with the attempt at extortion. The sex tape is said to have been pulled by one of the defendants from Valbuena’s phone, France Info reported. It is said to be the technology freak Axel Angot, who got the video when he was supposed to transfer data to Valbuena’s new mobile phone in 2014. Then the blackmail plan emerged.
Benzema himself has so far always rejected the allegations and described the process as a “farce” as early as January. His lawyer Sylvain Cormier even spoke of “harassment” in connection with the investigation. The defense is demanding acquittal for Benzema, who failed to appear in court on Wednesday due to professional commitments. It should be his appearance in the premier class the day before. “I really regret that Karim is not here,” said Valbuena.
.
