Benzema will not be excluded from the French national team
Reports: Benzema will not be excluded from the French national team if convicted in the Valbuena blackmail case
Noel Le Graet, president of the French Football Federation, announced that:
Karim Benzema, the star of the French national team and Real Madrid, who is awaiting a ruling on his alleged involvement in the blackmailing of his former teammate Matteo Valbuena, will not be excluded from the Blues team if convicted.
“The coach of the national team will remain responsible for the selection, and Benzema will not be excluded due to a possible judicial penalty,” Le Graet confirmed in an interview published today, Wednesday, in the French newspaper (Le Parisien).
He added that even if he was sentenced to a suspended prison sentence, he can appeal, and his summons to continue playing with the national team in the coming months will not be linked to this punishment.
It should be noted that the prosecution demanded a 10-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of 75,000 euros for the Real Madrid striker for his alleged involvement in an attempt to blackmail Valbuena with a video clip containing sexual content.
The president of the French Football Federation stressed that he would never interfere with the coach of the national team, Didier Deschamps, to tell him not to rely on the player.
He stated that “It is Didier (Deschamps) who should think about whether he is suitable from a sporting point of view to play with the ‘Blues’.”
It is noteworthy that the French coach spoke last Monday about Benzema and said that he is a “strong candidate” for the Golden Ball award, the winner of which is supposed to be known on November 29.
Deschamps said he hoped Benzema would be rewarded, and added, “Not because I am the coach of the national team or because he is French, but because of what he did with his club and with the French national team this year.”
Benzema scored a total of 38 goals with Real Madrid and his country.
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