The 33-year-old is accused of being involved in the attempted blackmailing of his then colleague in the national team, Mathieu Valbuena, in 2015 – he himself rejects that. Four men are charged with attempted extortion along with Benzema.
The Versailles trial is scheduled for three days. If convicted, the striker faces five years’ imprisonment and a fine of 70,000 euros.
Benzema is said to have pushed for payment
The strange affair began with a data transfer between two cell phones. Valbuena had entrusted his phone to a friend in order to transfer the content to a new device. He discovered a video with sexual content and came up with the idea of making money with it: Valbuena should pay to prevent the video from being published.
Benzema had also contacted Valbuena about the video. On behalf of a childhood friend, he is said to have urged his teammate to pay the blackmailer. This childhood friend, in turn, is said to have been in league with the blackmailers.
“I just wanted to help”
Benzema testified that he was just doing Valbuena a favor. “When I hear that I was supposed to have blackmailed him, it makes me angry. I don’t need any money, ”he told TF1 in 2015. He said he had a good relationship with Valbuena, according to «Le Monde». “He’s my buddy, we’ve known each other for a long time,” he said. “I like him and I just wanted to help him”.
Valbuena, on the other hand, testified that Benzema had offered to bring him together with someone “who can sort things out”. The now 37-year-old had to find out “that someone he thought was his friend was actually in cahoots with those who wanted to blackmail him,” said his lawyer Paul-Albert Iweins.
Benzema was subsequently no longer set up for the French national team, as was Valbuena. “Karim Benzema cannot be appointed until the situation changes, until there is something new in his case,” said the president of the French football association Noël Le Graët at the time.
Without the star striker, France made it to the final of the 2016 European Championship and won the 2018 World Cup.
Benzema’s comeback
But although the allegations have not changed, national coach Didier Deschamps changed the previous policy towards Benzema this May – and nominated the Real Madrid striker for the European Championship. The newspaper “L’Equipe” had the headline at the time: “La surprise du chef” (The chef’s surprise). “Anyone can make mistakes,” Deschamps defended his decision.
Since his comeback in the national team, Benzema has been doing well in terms of sport, at least. He contributed goals to France’s first victory in the Nations League. In Spain he leads the scorer list with nine goals from eight games. He has also been nominated for the Ballon d’Or award for the best footballer of the calendar year. Whether his career can continue to develop unhindered, however, now depends on the Versailles trial.
Benzema’s lawyers did not comment on whether he would appear in court. Valbuena, who now plays for Olympiacos (Greece), will be present, according to his lawyer.