The French international Karim Benzema, under formal
investigation in connection with an alleged attempt to blackmail a fellow
player, has been suspended from the national team, the head of the French
Football Federation said.
Noël Le Graët said he and his federation colleagues were
enormously sad to have made the decision that the Real Madrid striker was no
longer able to be selected, saying he was a talented player.
Benzema is being investigated over an alleged attempt by one
of his friends to extort money from a fellow international, Mathieu Valbuena,
over a s3x tape. He told investigators he approached Valbuena about the tape on
behalf of “a childhood friend” but claims he did not think he was doing
anything wrong.
His lawyer has insisted he was not party to any blackmail
attempt. “He played no part, I repeat no part, in any blackmail or attempted
blackmail,” Sylvain Cormier, Benzema’s lawyer, said last month.
Benzema had asked the FFF to delay making a decision which
came six months before Euro 2016 takes place in France. The player was formally
put under investigation on 5 November for “complicity in a blackmail attempt”
and being part of a “criminal group”. He is under judicial control, meaning he
is not allowed to have any contact with Valbuena.
Today, Benzema is not able to be picked and he won’t be in
June [at Euro 2016] if the situation does not change. It’s heartbreaking, I
must say, Noël Le Graët said.
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