Former Lyon and Portsmouth footballer Nadir Belhadj is being investigated for bigamy following a complaint made by a woman claiming to be his wife, a judicial source revealed on Thursday.
The woman made the complaint in December after discovering that Belhadj had married another woman at the French embassy in Qatar in June last year, according to prosecutor Virginie Deneux, confirming a story that had appeared in Le Progres regional daily.
The woman, who is Algerian and lives in the Jura region in eastern France, told investigators that she married Belhadj in 2009 in Oran, Algeria and gave birth to his child in June 2011.
According to her, Belhadj had opened divorce proceedings in Algeria but they were yet to reach a conclusion.
"We're right at the start of the inquiry and the investigations," Deneux told AFP.
"The complainant has made statements and provided us with documents. The police investigators must now confirm that they are accurate.
"Bigamy is rarely treated in the criminal courts. In general, it tends to go to the civil courts."
If investigators conclude that bigamy has taken place, prosecutors may ask for Belhadj's second marriage to be annulled.
Belhadj, 29, is a France-born Algerian international and currently plays for Qatari side Al-Sadd, with whom he won the Asian Champions League in November.
Source: AFP
