Valbuena says Benzema 'indirectly' told him to pay sex-tape money

The French midfielder says his relation with the Real Madrid striker was not as sincere as he makes out

PARIS: Mathieu Valbuena said in an interview published Friday that France international teammate Karim Benzema "indirectly" told him he had to pay a ransom to get back a sex-tape of him with his girlfriend.

Twenty-seven year-old Real Madrid star Benzema has been charged with complicity to blackmail Valbuena over the tape.

Le Monde newspaper asked Valbuena whether Benzema had just urged him to meet the blackmailers. "Incite, that means 'you will have to pay' indirectly," Valbuena replied in his first public comments on the affair.



"He was not aggressive in his manner of talking, he did not talk about money concretely, directly. But when someone insists that I meet someone ... hmmmm.

"I have never met anyone who is going to destroy a video for free just because they love me! You shouldn't treat people like idiots," Valbuena said.

"I am very very very disappointed and I can only note that my relations with Karim were not as sincere as he makes out," he added.



According to investigation sources, Benzema has admitted to police that he was to act as an "intermediary" between Valbuena and one of the blackmailers who was a childhood friend of the striker.

The scandal has rocked France's campaign for the European Championships which the country will host next year. Benzema has been banned from meeting Valbuena and neither were chosen for recent France games.