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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mathieu Valbuena has made his first public comments regarding the sex tape blackmail plot his French teammate Karim Benzema allegedly organized against him.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Benzema, who plays for Real Madrid as well as the French national team, was arrested earlier this month and charged with conspiracy to blackmail and participating in a criminal group. Benzema allegedly blackmailed Valbuena by offering to withhold an \u201Cincriminating sex tape\u201D from the public in exchange for money.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In the French newspaper &lt;em&gt;Le Monde&lt;/em&gt;, Valbuena spoke about the details of Benzema\u2019s extortion attempts and how surprised he was that his teammate was involved in the scheme.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CThere comes a time when you can\u2019t defend the indefensible. I wouldn\u2019t even do that to my worst enemy,\u201D Valbuena said, according to the Associated Press. \u201CWhen I went to the first hearing I couldn\u2019t imagine that Karim was involved in this. I can only feel very, very, very let down and now realize that my relationship with Karim wasn\u2019t as sincere as he may claim.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 &lt;strong&gt;Qatar opens investigation after flooding reveals construction flaws&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Valbuena took legal action after he was contacted by the blackmailers. In the &lt;em&gt;Le Monde&lt;/em&gt;\u200B story, he recounted how Benzema attempted to convince him to take a meeting with the blackmailers, one of which is believed to be a childhood friend of Benzema.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CHe told me several times that I was dealing with \u2018some serious thugs.\u2019 He told me \u2018I know that if it was me, with my family and everything ... you\u2019d need to be strong,\u2019\u201D Valbuena said. \u201COK, he also said \u2018If you don\u2019t want to, leave them to it, no problem. But I can introduce you to my friend.\u2019 It always came back to that. I\u2019m more than disappointed. It\u2019s quite simply a lack of respect. You don\u2019t behave like that with anybody. At the end, when I was just leaving, Karim said \u2018So what do I do? Shall I give him your number?\u2019\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Benzema has denied any wrongdoing, despite the recent release of a transcript of a phone call between him and friend in which they discuss the extortion plan.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CWhat he said shows a lack of respect,\u201D Valbuena said of the transcript. \u201CI respect everyone, but I get the impression I\u2019ve been taken for an idiot.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 &lt;strong&gt;Suspected match-fixing mastermind Dan Tan released from Singapore jail&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;On Friday, Benzema\u2019s lawyer said he and his client were unphased by Valbuena\u2019s comments in the newspaper story, and advised Benzema to respond \u201Cto show that he is not the man he's portrayed to be.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Benzema, 27, has also faced litigation in an underage sex case, but all charges were dropped last year.\r\n&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2015/11/27/mathieu-valbuena-karim-benzema-sex-tape-blackmail-plot>