Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Benzema Drops Appeal Against Conviction in Blackmail Case


Sun 05 Jun 2022 | 05:07 AM
Taarek Refaat

Real Madrid Star Karim Benzema decided not to appeal his sentence, after he was found guilty of blackmailing Mathieu Valbuena, his former French teammate, with a "sex tape".

In October 2021, the French judiciary issued a decision to imprison Benzema for a period of one year, suspended, in addition to a fine of 75,000 euros, in addition to obligating him to pay a financial compensation of 80,000 euros to Valbuena, after he was considered complicit in the case that dates back to the year 2015.

Benzema's lawyer noted that the decision to withdraw the appeal "apparently confirms the verdict and complicity in the guilt", but considered that it was a "judicial fact. But it is not the truth", referring to the player's insistence to deny his involvement in encouraging Valbuena to pay Money for blackmailers to keep a sex tape out of the public eye.

The case dates back to 2015, when Valbuena was blackmailed by unknown persons over an obscene tape, and Benzema advised him at the time to pay the money to the blackmailers. This case led to the exclusion of the players from the "roosters" team since late 2015, before Benzema returned to the team after nearly six years, in the last European Cup.

The announcement that Benzema would not appeal his penalty came hours after the French team lost 1-2 to Denmark, on Friday, in the first round of the European Nations League, in a match that witnessed Benzema's participation and scoring a global goal.