Europe 1 with AFP 12:16 p.m., October 20, 2021, modified at 12:17 p.m., October 20, 2021

A trivial story of blackmail that has cost a lot of money.

After 6 years of twists and turns both at the sporting and judicial level, Karim Benzema appears for three days, before the criminal court of Versailles.

The alleged victim, Mathieu Valbuena, spoke Wednesday morning at the bar.

Mathieu Valbuena, called to the bar this Wednesday morning at the Versailles Criminal Court, on the first day of the trial of the "sextape affair" of which he is the alleged victim, explained that he "felt in danger" when he learned in 2015 of the existence of this intimate video.

"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," said Mathieu Valbuena.

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The midfielder of Olympiakos (Greece), 37, was present at the opening of the debates Wednesday morning in Versailles, unlike his ex-teammate in the France team, Karim Benzema, warned.

Wearing gray pants and a black shirt, he was called to the bar by the president after the facts were recalled.

The complainant explained that he had been warned of the existence of this compromising video by his former teammate Djibril Cissé.

"I thought it was a bluff"

"At first I couldn't believe this story, I thought it was a bluff," said Valbuena. Djibril Cissé, himself a victim of similar blackmail during his career, then gave him a description of the video, of which he had received an extract on WhatsApp. "I felt in danger, my first instinct was to file a complaint," said Valbuena, who said he never had "the idea of ​​paying".

A time indicted in this case, Djibril Cissé was finally dismissed.

Valbuena will then be put in touch with one of the alleged blackmailers, then with Karim Benzema, himself in contact with them.

Five men are being prosecuted in this case of attempted blackmail.

The most famous of them, Karim Benzema, accused of complicity in this affair, is not present at the hearing, his lawyer having put forward the "professional" obligations of the star of Real Madrid, who played a Champions League match on Tuesday night in Ukraine and must prepare for the "Clasico" against FC Barcelona on Sunday.