Ex-Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse faces sex tape blackmail charges
French prosecutors have called for former Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse to be charged with blackmail over a sex tape featuring another French footballer.
Cisse and Real Madrid star Karim Benzema were arrested last year over the alleged attempt to blackmail Lyon midfielder Mathieu Valbuena with a tape of him and his girlfriend.
Cisse, who said he had merely tipped off Valbuena about the existence of the tape, was later released without charge.
But prosecutors in Versailles, west of Paris, now say he has a case to answer.
A court will decide in December whether the 35-year-old, who has retired from playing, should be charged.
In November, Benzema was charged with complicity in the attempted blackmail of Valbuena, a fellow France international.
The 28-year-old has asked the court to throw out the investigation, insisting it is biased.
The sex tape scandal rocked French football just as the country was preparing to host this summer’s European Championship finals.
France manager Didier Deschamps left Benzema out of the team over the affair.
The decision infuriated the player, who claimed he had been dropped because of his Algerian roots.
France reached the final of the competition where they were beaten 1-0 by Portugal after extra time. Sky News
