Djibril Cisse involved in Karim Benzema blackmail scandal? Former Liverpool star ordered to hand his phone to French police after a copy of Mathieu Valbuena’s sex tape was found
Benzema has gone to trial for 'complicity in a blackmail attempt' and 'participation with a criminal association', and Cisse could now face the same charges
DJIBRIL CISSE has been ordered to hand over his phone by a Versailles judge so that it can be analysed by experts over an alleged plot to blackmail former teammate Mathieu Valbuena.
Real Madrid star Karim Benzema was arrested by French police in November 2015 for “complicity in a blackmail attempt” and “participation with a criminal association”, and Cisse now appears likely to face the same charges.
Benzema is said to have told Valbuena to transfer tens of thousands of euros to childhood friend Karim Zenati, or have a sextape of him and his girlfriend leaked on the internet.
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According to radio station Europe 1, the striker told his France teammate: "I can help you out. You have to see this guy. You have my word that there are no more copies.
"You can do whatever you want. Ok, If you don’t want to pay, it’s your life but I have warned you."
As a result of the incident, Benzema was dropped from France's Euro 2016 squad.
Cisse, a teammate of Valbuena at Marseille, was brought in for questioning in October the same year, but released without charge.
At the time, he told French TV programme Touche Pas A Mon Poste: “It’s a thing that could have been very bad for me and for him. So they came to hear my side of the story. I never swindled [anyone].
“Mathieu’s a friend. We were at Marseille together and I used to bring him to training. So there wasn’t any swindling – I just warned him to be careful.
"He made a complaint, my name was included as part of it and they heard me. That’s all.”
But more leaked quotes suggest Cisse was far more involved in the blackmail plot than he had made out.
According to Europe 1, the ex-Liverpool striker said: “I had to go back and forth between the two [Valbuena and the blackmailers]. I had to do this two or three times, maybe a little more.”
If Cisse is found guilty of the same charges as Benzema, he could face up to five years in prison.
Just a week ago the 35-year-old revealed he was quitting football for a second time to focus on a new career as a DJ.