This archive report was first published on 22 October 2021.
On October 22, 2021, French prosecutors began seeking a 10-month suspended sentence for Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema in connection with an alleged attempt to blackmail former France teammate Mathieu Valbuena with a sex tape.
Benzema, 33, is one of five people on trial over the 2015 extortion attempt, which led to him being dropped from the national team for five-and-a-half years.
Prosecutor Segolene Mares told the court that Benzema was not a good Samaritan who tried to help Valbuena, but rather acted to allow the blackmailers to reach their aim and obtain money.
Valbuena, who also lost his spot on the national team over the affair, testified that the experience left him feeling frightened and fearful for his career.
“I knew if the video came out things would be difficult for me in the French team, as was proven to be the case later,” Valbuena said.
Mustapha Zouaoui, the alleged mastermind of the blackmail attempt, expressed regret and apologized to Valbuena in court.
Valbuena described being selected for the national team as “the Holy Grail for footballers” and said he never could have imagined a teammate being implicated in a plot against him.
Benzema claims he was only trying to help Valbuena when he approached him about the sex tape, but prosecutors point to a phone-tapped conversation as proof that Benzema was an accomplice to the extortion attempt.
