A lawyer for Karim Benzema insists the Real Madrid striker isn't involved in an alleged blackmail of Mathieu Valbuena despite being arrested on Wednesday.
Benzema was detained in Versailles by police investigating claims of an attempt to extort money from the Lyon forward over the reported existence of a sex tape.
“He has come here naturally to answer questions,” Sylvain Cormier is quoted as saying by AS.
“[Benzema is] happy, even satisfied, to end this painful controversy. He has nothing to do with this matter.”
Cormier went on to reveal that it was the Benzema camp that reached out to the investigators to offer to discuss the situation after it was reported his name had come up during the case.
AS notes there are three people alleged to have attempted to blackmail Valbuena, threatening to release footage of a sex tape if they didn’t receive an unspecified amount of money, put in some reports at €150,000.
It’s said that Benzema was contacted by the group through a friend, who is also under questioning.
Benzema is reported to have discussed the alleged plot with Valbuena at a France national team get-together in October. The investigators are trying to establish if he was speaking to Valbuena in good faith or acting on behalf of the alleged blackmailers.
Valbuena reported a phone call to police in June in which the threat was first made and the case was opened in July, AS reports.
Three people were arrested in October, as was former France striker Djibril Cisse, who had discussed the alleged plot with Benzema.
Cisse was released without charge after 10 hours while the other three were charged by police. A relative of Benzema was reportedly arrested on Monday after contacting the player on behalf of the alleged blackmailers.
Benzema watched Real Madrid beat Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night from Santiago Bernabeu and took an early morning flight to Paris.
He and his lawyer went to the judicial police in Versailles, just outside the capital, at around 9:00 local time.
