French court approves investigation of Karim Benzema blackmail case

Paris : The Paris Court of Appeal on Thursday rejected the annulment of an investigation into Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema for his alleged blackmailing of fellow France teammate Mathieu Valbuena.

Investigators accused the Real Madrid forward and three other people of threatening to release an alleged sexually explicit video of Valbuena and his wife unless the player handed over money, reports Efe.

Benzema's legal team requested the annulment of the investigations because, in their view, it was tainted after an undercover officer allegedly illegally recorded their conversations.

Defence lawyer Sylvain Cormier told Efe he was planning to lodge an appeal in the Supreme Court.

Benzema has not been called up to the France national squad since the scandal broke at the end of 2015.