French police have questioned Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema in connection with an inquiry into an alleged attempt to blackmail fellow-France international Mathieu Valbuena, according to a police source.
Benzema arrived at a police station near Paris early on Wednesday and will remain in custody overnight.
An investigation was opened in July into a suspected attempt to extort Valbuena, with police trying to determine the extent to which Benzema was aware of an intimate video which found its way into the hands of blackmailers.
Benzema's name came up during phone taps in relation to the inquiry, said the police source.
"He has nothing to reproach himself for," Benzema's lawyer, Sylvain Cormier, was quoted as saying by French media.
"He is even happy to be able to put an end to this terrible controversy."
Valbuena, 31, currently plays for Lyon and was in the same France squad as Benzema at the World Cup in Brazil in 2014.
Former Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse was among four people taken into custody as part of the investigation last month.
Cisse, who is currently without a club, was later released and denied any involvement in the alleged plot.