Manuel Valls, the French Prime Minister has joined in the
criticism of Karim Benzema, saying the Real Madrid striker "has no
place" on the French team at the European Championship in the wake of a
blackmail scandal involving teammate Mathieu Valbuena. Benzema is one of France's key players as it gets ready to
host the Euro 2016 tournament, but he faces allegations of teaming up with a
friend to extort money from teammate Mathieu Valbuena using blackmail over a sex tape the Lyon
midfielder
recorded.
His alleged active role in pressuring France teammate
Mathieu Valbuena has badly damaged his reputation and could even earn him the
sack at Real Madrid. Even though Benzema denies any wrongdoing, his arguments
were undermined last week when Valbuena spoke directly about his attempts to
pressure him in an interview with Le Monde newspaper.
Speaking with French radio Europe 1, the prime minister
said: "A great athlete should be exemplary. If he is not, he has no place
within the France team."
The investigation, started when Valbuena took legal action
after being contacted by a man claiming to possess an incriminating sex tape.
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