Karim Benzema: Arsenal target to remain in custody overnight as part of investigation into alleged sex tape blackmail

Benzema will spend the night at a Versailles police station

(Getty Images)

Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema will remain in custody in a police station in Versailles overnight, according to reports in France.

Benzema is being questioned as part of an investigation into an alleged blackmail case over a sex tape involving another player, fellow French international Mathieu Valbuena.

The Frenchman's lawyer Sylvain Cormier told reporters that the 27-year-old would spend the night at a police station. A judicial official with direct knowledge of the case, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing, confirmed the information to the Associated Press.

Benzema, who denies any wrongdoing, was placed in custody after being summoned on Wednesday morning.

Investigators are trying to find out if he played a role in the extortion attempt targeting Valbuena, and if he actually tried to blackmail the Lyon player, a police officer told the AP. The official also required anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.

Three other people have been handed preliminary charges since October in the case.

Former France international Djibril Cisse was briefly detained last month after being suspected of conspiracy to blackmail, a charge with a maximum prison sentence of five years. Cisse, who has since retired from soccer, was released without seeing a judge.

Cormier said his client told the judge in charge of the case that he had been available for questioning as soon as his name was mentioned in the media last month.

"He wants to put an end as soon as possible to this controversy that rose from a case he did not take part in," Cormier said in a message to the AP.

It's not the first time Benzema has faced problems off the field.

Five years ago, preliminary charges were filed against Franck Ribery and Benzema for soliciting an underage prostitute. Both players were questioned as part of a probe into a suspected network of prostitutes that operated out of a nightclub on Paris' glitzy Champs-Elysees. The case lasted three years before they were acquitted.

Additional reporting from AP and Reuters