Franck Ribery 'flew prostitute to Germany as a birthday present'
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The Bayern Munich midfielder paid thousands of pounds to jet Zahia Dehar to Germany, she said, in her first ever interview.
She told Paris Match magazine that Ribery paid for her first class flights and a five-star hotel for his 26th birthday last year.
Ribery, regarded as France's best player, has become embroiled in a sex scandal after French police raided the Paris brothel Cafe Zaman, earlier this month.
Miss Dehar told officers how she had £1,500-a-night sex with three French international players, including Ribery.
In her first interview, she said: "I was Ribery's brithday present.
"Franck approached me in a Paris club. He booked me and flew me to Munich to celebrate his 26th birthday.
"He made reservations at a luxury hotel in Munich. We had sex and he paid me. I was a lovely little present, wasn't I?"
While Ribery has admitted to police that he had sex with her, he denies paying her or knowing she was only 17-years-old at the time, which would make it illegal.
Lyon football club's Sidney Govou, 30, and Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema, 22, are also being probed by police in connection with the scandal.
All three players - none of whom have so far been charged with any offence - have said they believed the girl was of legal age. All three have denied any wrongdoing.
Miss Dehar, who says she is a call-girl rather than a prostitute, insists that she told Ribery she was 18 at the time, the legal age for prostitution in France.
She also told the magazine how she turned to prostitution at the age of 16.
"I've always looked older than I am, and when I began to understand that I was pleasing to men, i thought 'why not take advantage of it," she said.
"I have had encounters with all kinds of people from the world's of sport and showbiz. They proposition me and I make myself available.
"But I have no pimp and I don't give the money I make to anyone.
"I only have paid sexual relations with people that I choose to. No one forces me to do anything and when I don't want to do something, I don't."
She added that her strict Muslim family had no idea of her 'profession' until the latest scandal erupted.
A French judge is currently considering whether charges should be brought against the players.
Ribery converted to Islam after marrying wife Wahiba, his childhood sweetheart and mother of his two children.
She is said to be "devastated" by the scandal and "seriously considering" launching divorce proceedings, French daily France-Soir said.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnew…
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Indeed.
http://www.celebrity-gossip.net/zahia-de…
All I got for my last birthday was a tie. It was a nice tie, but still...
Soccer, or football as you call it, will never be more than the fifth most popular team sport in the USA, and it's probably lower than that when you consider individual sports like golf and NASCAR. There is a cult following for soccer in the USA, but there is also an element of the media which is anti-soccer. In the end, I played it as a kid and enjoyed it and I am looking forward to the USA-England match, although I don't know that we'll win.
http://starcasm.net/archives/44434
"I thought brothels were legal in Frnce."
Nope. Prostitution is legal, but there are laws against soliciting in public places in France. Brothel ownership has been illegal in France since 1946. Pimping is also illegal in France.