Mathieu Valbuena breaks his silence over the ongoing sextape scandal

Karim Benzema remains under judicial custody.

Lyon midfielder Mathieu Valbuena has largely remained quiet over the last few months as more and more details emerged regarding one of the most bizarre football stories to occur in the last decade. You may already know that the Valbuena was the victim of a gang that threatened to publish a private sex video of his unless he paid them off. His French teammate Karim Benzema was implicated in the attempt and the Real Madrid striker was ultimately charged with ‘attempted blackmail, complicity and participation in the preparation of a criminal offence’. Speaking with Le Monde, here's what Valbuena had to say about Benzema's involvement. When asked if the striker had just urged him to meet the blackmailers. "Incite, that means 'you will have to pay' indirectly. He was not aggressive in his manner of talking, he did not talk about money concretely, directly. But when someone insists that I meet someone ... hmmmm. "I have never met anyone who is going to destroy a video for free just because they love me! You shouldn't treat people like idiots," Valbuena said. "Obviously I’m disappointed, more than disappointed [with Benzema]. [His words] showed a lack of respect. I thought the world of him before, but now I feel he’s taken me for a fool. Many people want to destabilise me, but I’ve risen above them, as I always have. I can’t defend the indefensible. I wouldn’t do that, not even to my worst enemy. When the case first came to light, I far from imagined that Karim Benzema would be involved. The investigators didn’t wait to find out what was said between Karim and I for it to be examined. Moreover, the police told me: ‘Don’t worry, we don’t need a testimony from you’. I can only be very, very, very disappointed [with Karim] and found that our relationship is not as sincere as he could perhaps claim.