Karim Benzema and Mathieu Valbuena in June 2015 in Villeneuve d'Ascq. - PHILIPPE HUGUEN / AFP

A trial for "complicity in an attempt to blackmail" was required against Real Madrid star attacker Karim Benzema in the case of Mathieu Valbuena's sextape blackmail in 2015, the Versailles prosecutor's office said on Thursday.

Karim Benzema is suspected of having incited his ex-teammate in the France team to pay blackmailers who threatened to reveal an intimate video staging it. The prosecution also asked for a trial for four other men involved in the football community, but he requested a dismissal for Djibril Cisse, also indicted for complicity.

Asked in December by the team about the possibility of a trial, his lawyer Patrice Spinosi had assured that Benzema would go "to defend himself before the judges". "He has absolutely no fear because there is nothing against him. "

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  • Karim Benzema
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