Real Madrid CF striker Karim Benzema will face trial Thursday for his alleged involvement in an attempted blackmail case linked to a sex tape featuring a former France team-mate.
The Royal club forward is accused of paying sums of money to inpiduals to extort money from Mathieu Valbuena by threatening to make the video public in 2015.
Benzema, 33, argues that a police officer used dishonest methods to draw him into the affair, and he was suspended indefinitely from the French national team since the issue came to light.
According to the AFP News Agency, French prosecutors announced Benzema would face trial on Thursday.
Benzema's lawyer Sylvain Cormier said he was not surprised the matter was going to trial, but the decision is "as absurd as it was predictable", as reported by AFP.
Benzema has scored 261 goals for Real Madrid since his enrollment in 2009.
Benzema and Valbuena were in the France squad for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil at the time of the affair.
Valbuena, 36, was playing for Lyon at the time and now plays for Greek side Olympiakos.
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