Karim Benzema and Franck Ribery had possession of a sex tape involving Valbuena and his girlfriend, and they threatened to leak it on the internet. Real Madrid marksman has been found guilty of the attempted blackmail charges laid on him by Mathieu Valbuena.
The incident that has been surfacing around the internet for nearly 6 years now, has finally reached a verdict, which will make Benzema serve a one-year suspended sentence in prison and also a fine of 75,000 euros.
The presiding judge at the court of Versailles passed on the sentence after a trial last month and handed a similar punishment to four others allegedly involved in the scandal. They were all handed sanctions varying from 18-month suspended sentences to two and a half years in prison.
Benzema was not present at the tribunal today, just the way he let his legal representatives take care of the matter during the October hearing. The trial, however, will not have any impact on his selection in Real Madrid or his national team, as confirmed by the FFF President Noel Le Grant. The 33-year-old can challenge the decision made by the court.
The incident tracks back all the way to 2015, when Benzema and his French teammate Ribery had blackmailed Valbuena to transfer a huge amount of money to his friend Karim Zenati. Benzema and Ribery had possession of a sex tape involving Valbuena and his girlfriend, and they threatened to leak it on the internet.
In future trials, with Benzema totally denying the accusations on him, Valbuena mentioned that the Real Madrid player never asked him money directly, but asked him to speak to his friend. Former Liverpool defender and Valbuena’s teammate Djibril Cisse was also called up for a session of questioning.
This left both Valbuena and Benzema out of the French national team, a decision taken by head coach Didier Deschamps and even the Prime Minister of the country had his say in the matter, saying there should be no place for Benzema. The 2021 Ballon d’Or nominee also accused the national manager of being racist for dropping him.
In 2016, a French Court denied his request to drop the case, and the latest of the hearings happened from October 20th to 22nd this year. This infamous scandal denied the footballer a chance to be a part of the World Cup 2018 team according to many, but as mentioned by the FFS President, it had nothing to do with his non-selection.
Benzema has a long history of getting involved in such scandals. In January 2014, during an international break in the footballing season, Benzema and Ribery were acquitted in Paris of soliciting an underage prostitute. He was also stopped by police in Spain, according to Cadena SER, for driving without a license in the said country and taking an illegal turn.
During the course of this sex-tape scandal, a French publication named Le Point also mentioned that he was involved in a cocaine trafficking case which is entirely unrelated to the Valbuena incident. Despite all these cases lurking around, Benzema has managed to keep his career going and is currently having the best few seasons of his career.
Having scored 30 goals across all competitions last time around, Benzema already has 22 goal contributions (14 goals + 8 assists) in 17 games for the club with barely a third of the season done. He is in contention to win the Ballon d’Or for 2021, and also the FIFA Men’s Best Player alongside the usual suspects in Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski, Cristiano Ronaldo and Jorginho.
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In all likelihood, Benzema is expected to appear for the Madrid unit as they travel to the home of Sheriff, who beat them in the reverse fixture. As it stands, the French national side and Real Madrid are yet to comment on the incident.
