Karim Benzema will not be part of the France squad for Euro 2016 due

to his involvement in the Mathieu Valbuena sex-tape scandal. Here is a

timeline of the key events in the affair.

October 13, 2015

AFP revealed that former Marseille, Liverpool and France striker

Djibril Cisse had been arrested and then released in relation to “an

attempted extortion” of Valbuena.

Cisse later told AFP that he had been contacted in a bid to get him to blackmail Valbuena.

“I warned Mathieu, that’s all. He then made a complaint to police and

mentioned my name so I was interviewed but the police saw that there

was nothing exceptional in my case.”

November 5, 2015

Benzema was arrested on November 4 and charged the following day with

complicity to blackmail. The Real Madrid striker was banned from having

any contact with Lyon midfielder Valbuena or the others charged in the

affair.

France coach Didier Deschamps left both Benzema and Valbuena out of

his squad for friendly matches against Germany and England later this

month, officially because the former was injured and the latter was not

in the right mental condition.

November 9, 2015

France’s sports minister Patrick Kanner urged the French Football Federation to “consider” sidelining Benzema.

November 13, 2015

Sources revealed to AFP that Benzema told investigators he was asked

to “serve as an intermediary and to bring together Mathieu (Valbuena)

and Karim Zenati,” a childhood friend of Benzema’s.

“If Karim Zenati benefited in any way, that was not my intention and I

didn’t think about it. Honestly I am shocked. When I see all this, I am

an idiot.”

November 27, 2015

Valbuena gave an interview to French daily Le Monde in which he said

Benzema “indirectly” told him he had to pay a ransom to get back the

sex-tape of him with his girlfriend.

“He was not aggressive in his manner of talking, he did not talk

about money concretely, directly. But when someone insists that I meet

someone … hmmmm,” Valbuena said.

“I have never met anyone who is going to destroy a video for free

just because they love me! You shouldn’t treat people like idiots.”

December 10, 2015

The French Football Federation suspended Benzema indefinitely, saying

the ban would include Euro 2016 unless the case is settled beforehand.

January 10, 2016

Valbuena indicated he would be willing to play alongside Benzema in

the national team at Euro 2016 despite the ongoing blackmail case.

“We will see how it goes, but yes, no problem, anything is possible.

It wasn’t like it was a murder,” the Lyon midfielder told television

station TF1.

February 18, 2016

The legal restrictions on Benzema were partially lifted, allowing him

to contact Valbuena again, although the decision was immediately

appealed by prosecutors.

March 11, 2016

An appeals court in Versailles near Paris upheld the decision to lift

legal restrictions on Benzema, leaving the way clear for Benzema to be

involved in the same national squad as Valbuena.

“Good sense has won the day,” one of Benzema’s lawyers, Sylvain Cormier, told reporters.

April 13, 2016

Benzema announced that he will not feature at Euro 2016 via his

Twitter account, with the French Football Federation confirming the news

a short while later.

“Sporting performance is an important factor but not the only one

that decides whether a player is called up to the France squad,” the FFF

say, explaining their decision to leave out the 81-times capped Madrid

striker.

“The capacity of the players to strive towards unity, within and

around the squad, to be exemplary…are also taken into account.

“As a result…Karim Benzema will not be able to participate at Euro 2016.”