​Karim Benzema arrested over blackmail

Baku. 4 November. REPORT.AZ/ Karim Benzema has been arrested after being accused of blackmail related to a sex tape featuring fellow player Mathieu Valbuena.

The Real Madrid and France forward arrived at the police station in Versailles, near Paris, early on Wednesday and was placed in detention, Report informs citing the foreign media, the local prosecutor confirmed to AFP, without giving further information.

Investigators are trying determine the extent to which Benzema was aware of the intimate video featuring Valbuena, which found its way into the hands of blackmailers.

According to the source, Benzema mentioned the sex tape to Valbuena during a meeting of the French team in early October.

It is thought one of Benzema's relatives was contacted by the suspected blackmailers with a view to involving the footballer in their scheme, the source said.

Police are seeking to determine whether he was teasing Valbuena when he mentioned the tape, or trying to make him pay the blackmailers.

Benzema, 27, was heavily linked with a move to Arsenal in the summer but opted to stay at Real Madrid.