Mathieu Valbuena sex tape: Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema arrested over footballer blackmail plot

Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema has been arrested and questioned by police over an alleged blackmail plot involving a sex tape featuring his France international teammate Mathieu Valbuena.

Benzema, 27, attended a police station in Versailles on November 4. Blackmailers have tried extorting money from Lyon midfielder Valbuena and police are trying to find if Benzema, himself a victim of blackmailing plot in 2011, had a hand in the video finding its way into criminal hands. His arrival at the police station was so that he could be questioned, the public prosecutor's office said.

Prosecutors are also interested in learning the nature of a conversation Benzema and Valbuena are thought to have had at an October training session with the French national team and whether the striker was making a joke about the video or persuading him to pay the blackmailers. One of Benzema's relatives is said to have been approached about joining the criminal gang.

Benzema's arrest came two weeks after former Liverpool and France player Djibril Cisse was questioned over the same allegation concerning a sex video that was recorded on a mobile phone.