Karim Benzema was arrested by French police for his alleged part in blackmailing fellow France international player Mathieu Valbuena over a sex tape back in 2015.
The Real Madrid star is said to have played an intermediary role in the case, supposedly acting on behalf of a childhood friend.
Following plenty of investigations, a court ruled last year that there had been no “breach of fairness”, overruling an opinion made in 2017.
With no further appeal permitted by the Real Madrid ace, the file returned to the office of an investigating judge.
And it has been decided that the case will go to a criminal trial with Valbuena allegedly previously claiming he was the victim of an attempted blackmail.
The case has had a huge impact on Benzema’s career having been frozen out by the French national team ever since his indictment in 2015.
Benzema has frequently defended himself and said in 2017: “There's really something wrong with him [Valbuena]… it's all part of his story.”
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The forward, who is of Algerian descent, had asked France to allow him to represent another country, no reprieve has been offered.
This article was most recently revised and updated 4 years ago