Karim Benzema retires: Know about 2015 explosive sex-tape scandal that led to his 6-year exile from France team

Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema retired from international football on Monday, a day after France lost the 2022 FIFA World Cup final to Argentina. Benzema ends his international career without a major honour for France, despite his team winning the World Cup in 2018. The reason was a six year exclusion from the national squad due to an explosive sex-tape scandal involving a teammate in 2015. 

The scandal involved a leaked video involving Benzema’s former France teammate Mathieu Valbuena. The sex tape led to a massive media scandal and an investigation where it was alleged that Benzema had attempted to extort Valbuena.

Benzema was accused of having contacted Valbuena to help stop the release of the leaked video but only for an amount. Valbuena is reported to have refused this which led the tape to be eventually leaked. 

The Real Madrid star was charged with “conspiracy to commit extortion”. Benzema denied he was involved in any extortion plot and had just offered to help his teammate to prevent his tape from being released. Authorities placed the footballer under investigation and he faced widespread ridicule by the media in his home country. 

Benzema had been France’s top scorer in 2014 World Cup but the fallout of the scandal led to him being axed from the national team in October 2015. This meant he was not in the team for the Euro 2016 run to finals and the 2018 FIFA World Cup win of France. Benzema only returned to the squad in 2021 and was France’s best performer and top scorer in the Euros. 

Since his return, Benzema had scored 10 goals in 16 matches for France and was poised to play a crucial role at the recently concluded Qatar World Cup before being ruled out due to injury. 

Benzema is one of the most decorated French footballers in the modern era. He is only the fifth France player to win Ballon d’Or, the first since his idol Zinedine Zidane. He ended his France career with 37 goals in 97 appearances. At club level, he won the Champions League five times and is the fourth highest scorer in the competition with 86 goals. He is Real Madrid’s second all-time top scorer with 329 goals. 

Last year, Benzema received a 1-year suspended jail sentence and fine of 75,000 euros in the case that rocked French football years ago and led to his exile.

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(With inputs from agencies)