Soccer-Real Madrid's Benzema stands trial over sex tape affair

Soccer Football - Champions League - Group D - Shakhtar Donetsk v Real Madrid - NSC Olympiyskiy, Kyiv, Ukraine - October 19, 2021 Real Madrid's Karim Benzema celebrates their first goal, an own goal scored by Shakhtar Donetsk's Serhiy Kryvtsov REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

VERSAILLES, France (Reuters) -France and Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema went on trial in absentia on Wednesday, charged with complicity in the attempted blackmail of former international team mate Mathieu Valbuena over a sex tape.

Prosecutors allege that Benzema, who has denied wrongdoing, encouraged Valbuena to pay a suspected group of blackmailers in order to keep the sexually explicit tape out of the public eye.