Case of the sextape: at the trial, Valbuena says he "was afraid" for his career

Gwladys Laffitte with Europe 1 and AFP 19h36, October 20, 2021

Is Karim Benzema guilty of an attempted sextape blackmail on Mathieu Valbuena?

After years of debate, the trial of this case which is shaking French football opened on Wednesday morning in Versailles, in the absence of the main defendant.

Star striker of Real Madrid, candidate declared for the Golden Ball in the wake of his performances with the Blues he found in the spring, Benzema, 33, compared with four co-defendants, accused of being the actors of this attempted blackmail.

The famous conversation of October 6, 2015

In court, Mathieu Valbuena detailed through the menu how he had received the attempted blackmail of which he says he was the victim.

"It's been six years that we have had this case, everyone is there or almost, Karim is missing", regretted Mathieu Valbuena in front of the press, before evoking at the bar their famous conversation of October 6, 2015 at the center of training of the French team in Clairefontaine.

That evening, Benzema and Valbuena exchange for less than half an hour in the room of the Real Madrid striker.

The complainant said he came out "scared" and "upset" from this conversation.

Karim Benzema, who had been commissioned through an intermediary of the alleged master singers, was "insisting on making me meet someone", specifies Valbuena, 37 years old. 

Video release would 'complicate' Valbuena's career

His teammate in selection was not aggressive and did not mention money, recognizes Valbuena, who however adds that "when you solve a problem like that (...) it is not in exchange for football places".

"I was afraid for my sports career, for the France team. I knew that if the video came out, it would be complicated for me in the France team, as we saw later", continues the midfielder of Olympiakos (Greece).

The four other defendants have also delivered their thesis, in the words of the president, often exasperated by confused explanations, especially when he insists on knowing if it was a question of money in exchange for the sextape.

Axel Angot, who found the coveted video when Valbuena gave him his phone before copying it to his computer, points out "not having heard of money".

"There was no blackmail"

He explains that he wanted to help, even for free, hoping that the player will return the elevator to him one day.

Hardly, he acknowledges lip service that this business came "indirectly to the same thing as blackmail".

"There was no blackmail", assures one of the blackmailers, Mustapha Zouaoui.

We did not ask for money.

There was no request for money.

Me, principally, I never asked Karim to go see Mathieu and ask him for money.

For me, they went to see him because they thought we were going to do something. "The trial is due to take place until Friday.