Paris, Oct 13 (IANS): French footballer Djibril Cisse has been arrested after allegedly blackmailing compatriot and Lyon player Mathieu Valbuena over a sex tape.

The 34-year-old, currently without a club, is reportedly one of four people to have been arrested by French police. Cisse, who also played for English clubs Liverpool, Sunderland and Queens Park Rangers, is said to be part of a plot to extort money from Valbuena, mirror.co.uk reported on Tuesday.

The 31-year-old Lyon star and current France team member Valbuena was allegedly asked for money in exchange for the tape not being published.

The four men were arrested in the Bouches-du-Rhone and Oise departments.

Cisse has not been far away from the headlines this month after he laid into ex-wife Jude for featuring in Channel 5's Britain's Flashiest Families programme.

He branded Jude Cisse "a disgrace" after she allowed their three children to be filmed.

The programme showed Jude, who celebrated her divorce with a party and three-tiered cake depicting a headless groom, shopping for a Porsche.