Benzema put under formal inquiry over French sex tape

PARIS (Reuters) – French Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema was placed under formal judicial investigation on Thursday in connection with an alleged attempt to blackmail fellow-France soccer international Mathieu Valbuena with the use of a sex video.

A statement from the public prosecutor in Versailles west of Paris said the inquiry covered alleged offences that can carry a prison sentence of at least five years.

His lawyer, Sylvain Cormier said that Benzema was totally innocent. “He played no part, I repeat no part, in any blackmail or attempted blackmail,” Cormier told reporters.

The prosecutor’s move, which in France’s justice system does not necessarily mean he will end up being tried, but does mean investigators believe they have serious grounds for pursuing the matter with him, exposes Benzema to a period of doubt ahead of a European nations soccer contest that France hosts next year.

Investigators, who among several others questioned former Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse in the same case in mid-October without subsequently placing him under formal investigation, are trying to identify who was behind the alleged extortion attempt.

The affair involved phone-recorded sex footage that could prove embarrassing for Valbuena, according to sources close to the inquiry. Benzema’s name came up during phone taps in relation to the inquiry opened last July, police sources say.

The inquiry cites suspicion of complicity in extortion. The prosecutor also ordered Benzema to not enter contact with others linked to the affair.

Local media highlighted that the investigation could make life difficult for France coach Didier Deschamps, who may wish to call up both Valbuena, a forward for Olympique Lyonnais, and striker Benzema to play for France in the days and months ahead and in the euro nations contest next June and July.

The imbroglio is not Benzema’s first brush with justice.

He and Bayern Munich forwards Franck Ribery were acquitted by a court in January 2014 of charges that they solicited the services of an underage prostitute, the now fashion model Zahia Dehar, when she was aged 16 and 17.

A fan of ultra-fast road cars, Benzema was also banned from driving for eight months in 2013 and fined 18,000 euros after he was clocked at almost twice the speed limit in Spain.

(Reporting by Chine Labbe; Writing by Brian Love; Editing by James Regan and Mark John)