Mathieu Valbuena says he’s ‘ready to turn the page’ after Karim Benzema appeal dropped

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Karim Benzema announced on Saturday that he would give up appealing his conviction at first instance in the “sextape affair”.

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A final twist and a “relief” for Matthew Valbuena. As the “sextape affair” comes to an end, after Karim Benzema’s announcement to give up appealing his conviction, the former Marseillais reacted on RMC on Tuesday evening, expressing his eagerness to “turn the page”. “It’s finally a chapter that ends (…) I was tired of all this and I suffered a lot”he confessed.

The Olympiakos player says he was penalized on a sporting level, especially vis-à-vis the Blues. “It cost me the France team”he regretted. “It’s true that it was Euro 2016 in France (…) Obviously when you taste being international and playing for your country, it’s something strong. I would have hoped to have another end with the France team but it was like that. That’s how it is, it’s my career.” Valbuena, who has 52 caps, has not been called up since October 2015 and a last friendly match against Denmark.

He assumes his choice to have launched the legal action. “I have no regrets in having simply filed a complaint”he said. “I am not being blackmailed at all (…) It’s my private life and it’s nobody’s business.” Last November, Karim Benzema was found guilty of complicity in attempted blackmail, given a one-year suspended prison sentence and a fine of 75,000 euros.

He also assures that he does not blame his former teammate: “I don’t hold a grudge at all and I always said what I had to say about what happened. I’m not going to go back over this long affair but the most important thing for me is to turn the page.” And he even wishes him good things on the sporting level, especially in the race for the Ballon d’Or: “It wouldn’t be fair to say he doesn’t deserve the Ballon d’Or. Yes, he does deserve the Ballon d’Or. I can speak objectively on a sporting level.”


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