Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema is still under investigation for a part he made have played in blackmailing French teammate Mathieu Valbuena, but he now will have the ability, legally, to play for France at the European championships this summer. Benzema was previously not allowed to have any contact with Valbuena, meaning they couldn’t be in the same squad, but a French appeals court has lifted some of those restrictions.
Benzema was banned from French National Team duty in December, and is currently nursing a muscle injury in his right leg. The ban was slated to stick until the end of the court case, but the investigating judge lifted the ban after the prosecutor lodged an unsuccessful appeal. Via the Daily Mail, Benzema’s attorney called the decision “common sense.”
‘The appeal court of Versailles confirmed the decision of the supervising judge which allowed Karim Benzema to meet with Mathieu Valbuena,’ Benzema’s lawyer Olivier Combe told reporters outside the hearing.
‘Common sense has reasserted itself,’ said another member of Benzema’s legal team – Sylvain Cormier – as reported in L’Equipe.
‘This decision lifts the legal obstacles which could have existed.”
Benzema is still facing charges of conspiracy to blackmail relating to an extortion scam involving a sex tape with Valbuena in it. If guilty, Benzema could face a minimum of five years in a French prison. According to the French press, Benzema mentioned the sex tape to Valbuena at French national team training back in October. Benzema said he was advising his friend on what to do in a tough situation.
Benzema has 81 caps and 27 goals for the French National Team in his career, and if his ban is lifted, figures to be a major part of the squad who will be one of the favorites to win the Euro title. Valbuena has eight goals in his 52 national team caps, and has struggled for form since returning to France after a spell in Russia.
