Former Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse has been arrested regarding a plot to blackmail his former team-mate and France international Mathieu Valbuena over a sex tape.
Cisse, who played for Liverpool, Sunderland and Queens Park Rangers in the Barclays Premier League across three spells in England, is one of four men being held by judicial police in France.
'We can confirm that he is being questioned over his role in this affair,' a source working for investigators in Versailles, west of Paris, said.
Cisse is accused of conspiracy to blackmail, a charge with a maximum five-year prison sentence.
The striker, who cost Liverpool £14.5million 11 years ago, is said to have been part of a plot to extort money from Valbuena. The arrests took place in the Bouches-du-Rhone and Oise departments.
Valbuena, the diminutive 31-year-old Lyon midfielder who has been linked with a number of Premier League clubs, was asked for money in return for the tape not being published, it is alleged.
Cisse, 34, joined Saint-Pierroise in the Reunion Premier League, the top division in the French overseas territory Reunion located east of Madagascar, this summer.
Cisse and Valbuena were team-mates at Marseille during the striker's spell with L'OM between 2006 and 2009 as well as playing together with the French national team.
Last week, Cisse attacked his ex-wife for appearing on a Channel 5 reality TV programme. He branded Jude Cisse 'a disgrace' for featuring in Britain's Flashiest Families.
0 comments: