The French soccer federation (FFF) said Franck Ribery and Sidney Govou must be presumed innocent at this stage after being heard as witnesses by police investigating a prostitution network. The players' lawyers said Ribery and Govou had already been questioned and a police source close to the investigation said a third player should follow.

“The FFF wishes to state its attachment to the presumption of innocence principle and express its faith in the judicial process,” the organization said in a statement. "The FFF has no access to the case’s file and will make no further statement until the judicial process comes to a conclusion.”

According to reports in the French media, the players were clients of a nightclub in Paris’ posh Champs-Elysees district that allegedly featured escort girls. Ribery's lawyer says no charges were filed against him and that he was not held in police custody. Govou's lawyer says Govou “never set foot in” the Cafe Zaman nightclub, where the suspected prostitution ring was believed to have operated.