On April 18 2010, the French television channel M6 reported that four members of the French national team were being investigated for their roles as clients in a prostitute ring operated inside of a Paris nightclub. It was reported that some of the women were possibly underage or transgender. The players were eventuallynamed as Franck Ribéry, Sidney Govou, Hatem Ben Arfa and Benzema. Benzema was alleged to have had a sexual rendezvous with a prostitute when she was 16 years of age, an act Benzema denied through his lawyer.] On July 20, Benzema was questioned by Paris police and indicted on the charge of "solicitation of a minor prostitute". In November 2011, prosecutors asked for the cases against Ribéry and Benzema to be dropped, saying that the players were not aware that the escort, identified as Zahia Dehar, was 16 years old. However, the case was scheduled to go to hearing in June 2013.
On 4 November 2015, Benzema was arrested by French police for his alleged part in blackmailing fellow France international player Mathieu Valbuena. During the investigation over the blackmail plot, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls stated that great athletes needed to be exmplerary because they represented France and because so many children looked up to them.
Return to the previous page| Birth Date: | 19 Dec, 1987 |
| Age: | 32 yrs |
| Occupations: | Association football player |
| Citizenship: | France Algeria |
| Birth Place: | Lyon |
| Gender: | Male |
| Description: | French association football player of Algerian descent |
| Net Worth 2020: | 40 million |
| Net Worth 2021: | 70 million |
