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Bayern’s Ribery breaks silence over sex scandal

Bayern Munich player Franck Ribery has addressed the media storm raging around him about an underage prostitute. The 27-year-old Frenchman admitted to relations with the call girl, but said he didn't know she was so young.

Bayern's Ribery breaks silence over sex scandal
Photo: DPA

“It hurt my family, above all those close to me. That’s all I want to say,” he told the French sports programme “Orange Sport” on Saturday night, after his club’s 3-1 win over Bochum.

The soccer star, a married man with two children, has been at the centre of scandal ever since a human trafficking case broke last month in which Ribery and his teammate on the French national team, Sidney Govou, were called as witnesses.

Ribery admitted to having sex with the prostitute, Zahia Dehar, but said he did not know she was underage.

Now a judge will decide whether or not to bring charges against him. If charged and found guilty, Ribery could face three years in prison and a €45,000 fine.

He might also lose his place on the national team. France’s junior sports minister, Rama Yade, said last week that if an official investigation into the matter was begun, he would no longer wear the national team jersey.

“The jersey of the French national team is sacred,” she said.

While Ribery’s career could be in trouble, call girl Dehar’s could be taking off. According to the Swiss tabloid Blick, a porn director is interested in making a film over the sexual lives of football players and he wants Dehar for the starring role.

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BUSINESS

Elon Musk visits Tesla’s sabotage-hit German factory

Elon Musk travelled Wednesday to Tesla's factory near Berlin to lend his workers "support" after the plant was forced to halt production by a suspected arson attack on nearby power lines.

Elon Musk visits Tesla's sabotage-hit German factory

The Tesla CEO addressed thousands of employees on arrival at the site, accusing “eco-terrorists” of the sabotage as he defended his company’s green credentials.

With his son X AE A-XII in his arms, Musk said: “I am here to support you.”

The billionaire’s visit came a week after power lines supplying the electric carmaker’s only European plant were set on fire in an act of sabotage claimed by a far-left group called the Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group).

READ ALSO: Far-left group claims ‘sabotage’ on Tesla’s German factory

Musk had said then that the attack was “extremely dumb”, while the company said it would cost it several hundred million euros.

A week on, the lights have come back on at the site, but Andre Thierig, who heads the site, said on LinkedIn that it would “take a bit of time” before production is back to full speed.

Industry experts have warned that the reputational impact caused by the sabotage on the region could be more severe than the losses suffered by Tesla.

Tesla’s German plant started production in 2022 following an arduous two-year approval and construction process dogged by administrative and legal obstacles.

Tesla wants to expand the site by 170 hectares and boost production up to one million vehicles annually to feed Europe’s growing demand for electric cars and take on rivals who are shifting away from combustion engine vehicles.

But the plans have annoyed local residents, who voted against the project in a non-binding ballot last month.

After the vote, Tesla said it might have to rethink the plans. Environmental activists opposed to the expansion of the factory have recently also set up a camp in a wooded area near the plant.

READ ALSO: Why is Tesla’s expansion near Berlin so controversial?

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