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French soccer star
Franck Ribery, who is at the centre of sex scandal, will not face the
investigators before the South African World Cup finals, a source close
to the case said on Friday.

The news might help ease the tense atmosphere surrounding the France camp ahead of the June 11-July 11 tournament.

“As the case stands
now, it is not expected Ribery will be summoned by the judge to be
possibly placed under official investigation before the start of the
competition,” the judicial source said, declining to be named.

The source added
that another French international, Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema,
who also faces questioning in the same case, would not be heard before
the World Cup.

Junior Sports Minister Rama Yade said on Thursday that any player placed under investigation should not represent France.

“The French
(soccer) shirt is sacred and cannot be worn by somebody who is under
official investigation,” she told Canal+ television late on Thursday.

France playmaker
Ribery and fellow international Sydney Govou were questioned earlier in
April as witnesses by police investigating a prostitution network.

French media have
said the players were clients of a nightclub in Paris’s posh
Champs-Elysees district that allegedly featured escort girls.

Ribery’s lawyer has
said her client was only questioned about his ties with the leader of
an escort girls network and the player himself has made no comment
about the affair.

Govou’s lawyer and Benzema’s agent deny that their clients had ever been to the nightclub in question.

New twist

On Thursday, the
scandal, which has gripped France, took a new twist after a young woman
involved in the case gave a lengthy interview to Paris Match magazine
about the scandal.

She said Ribery had
invited her to Munich in April 2009 to celebrate his 26th birthday in a
luxury hotel, adding that he had paid her for three encounters last
year.

Zahia, who turned
18 in February, confirmed widespread reports in the French press that
she was underage when she met Ribery, but added that she had not
informed him about her age.

There was no immediate comment from Ribery’s entourage.

Ribery, usually
energetic on the pitch and unassuming off it, is probably the most
popular player in the squad, since Zinedine Zidane, who retired after
his infamous headbutt in the defeat by Italy on penalties in the 2006
World Cup final.

But he has had a
wretched few weeks, hounded by the media over the scandal, suffering
injury and then getting sent off earlier this month during Bayern
Munich’s Champions League semi-final.

UEFA have since suspended him from the final.

Given his various
woes, some sports commentators in France have questioned whether French
coach Raymond Domenech will even select him for the World Cup.

France’s
Immigration Minister Eric Besson said on Friday the case was taking
“undue importance” and that Ribery was entitled to the presumption of
innocence like any citizen.