Goal

Like Karim Benzema, one of the best generation football players and the ex-player of the French national team, quarreled with the country's football leadership

On October 15, Karim Benzema, the Legend of Real Madrid, a former player of the French national team and the owner of the Golden Ball, supported the inhabitants of the Gaza sector on Twitter: “We pray for the inhabitants of Gaza, who again became victims of unjust bombing, who do not spare neither women nor children.” The post was divided into social networks by 50 million views, which is comparable with the entire adult population of the country.

The strongest media effect and the unilaterality of the statement could not go unnoticed in France:

• The deputy of the European Parliament Nadine Morano said that she was “shocking” that Benzema did not condemn terrorism and did not mention the hostages and French victims;

• The Minister of Internal Affairs of France Gerald Darmanen accused Karim of relations with the Muslim Brothers;

• Senator and Vice-mayor Marseille Valerie Buay went further: she offered to deprive Benzem of citizenship if his connection with the terrorist organization really exist.

It is important that they so radically reacted to the words of a non -core, albeit an influential speaker, not at all marginal politicians. And there is a reason for this: Benzema has been in difficult relations with the French national team and politicians for many years. And if earlier representatives of nationalist parties were mainly opposed to Karim, now politicians have entered into a discussion much more centrist.

After tweet, Benzema is only about football on social networks, and a lawyer is blown up in the media field for him. According to Le Parisien, the player’s side is preparing a lawsuit against another critic from the nationalist party Erica Zammur, who stated that Karim “wants to follow the laws of Sharia”.

How this conflict will end is still unclear, but it is already clear that the relations of Karim and French politicians were at the lower point for the whole time. How did Benzema become one of the greatest players of the 21st century, but never turned into a hero for France?

The first claims

Benzema, like, for example, another legend of French football Zinedine Zidan, is a representative of the Kabilov, the people from the north of Algeria. Unlike most players in the French national team, who have lost their ties with the homeland of their ancestors, Benzema from childhood perceived himself as a representative of the two countries and cultures.

“After a long sports road ( in youthful teams. - Approx. Ed. ) I will play for France. Algeria is my country, from there my parents, France is my country from a sports point of view, ”Benzema explained in a TV show at the age of 19, when the presenters asked him what kind of team he was going to play.

The French nationalists then distorted the words of Karim and accused him of hypocrisy, of the interpretation of the representative of the National Front Stefan Ravier, the quote sounded like this: “In sports I spoke for the French national team, and in my soul I am an Algerian.”

In 2013, the nationalists continued to criticize him when he explained that no one would force him to sing “Marseilles”, but this does not mean that he does not love or respect his team.

“Benzema is nothing more than a football mercenary that earns 1484 euros per hour. He demonstrated an unacceptable disrespect for the French national team, which he had the honor to wear, ”Eric Domar reacted to the words of the National Front adviser to the“ National Front ”adviser.

The mercantile was then the second claim to Karim by the nationalists: “Benzema shows love and affection for France only when it comes to football, that is, when it comes to astronomical amounts of salary. If we are talking about the nation, the Motherland, he chooses Algeria. Of course, there is also football in Algeria ... There are smaller salaries, so he chooses Europe, ”are the words of the same equal.

These early claims to Karim were either a distortion of his statements or pure populism: the anthem of France periodically did not even sang Zidan, and the prizes for large tournaments that are held once every two years, for the players of the national team were comparable to the salary of Karim in Real Madrid in 10 days.

Blackmail and detachment

The relationship between Benzem with the national team and politicians seriously complicated three years after the story with the anthem, although the reason for this was initially not political at all.

In 2015, Karim got into a scandal due to the possible sex video partner in the French national team Mathieu Valbuan. The player was blackmailing with an intimate video with a girl during the year, while the existence of this video even after the trial is in question.

Karim admitted that after the French match against the Armenian national team, he talked with Valbuan about the video and even confirmed in the conversation that he himself saw this video, but later abandoned these words. At the same time, Benzema denied participation in blackmail:

“I told Valbuan to meet my friend, because I did not want my name to be in the involvement in this.”

One of the evidence of guilt from the investigation was the recording of a Benzem phone call to a friend who is also associated with blackmail. On the phone, Karim told how negotiations were held with Valbuan, who did not agree to meet with attackers.

“Karim asked me to meet with his friend, whom he introduced as very reliable, to whom he trusts. But I am not so stupid, therefore I was skeptical of these words. I know that Benzema wanted me to meet this person for a reason, but to pay for the destruction of the video, ”Mathieu Valbuen told Le Monde. In addition, he stated that he would not have done like Benzema, even with the worst enemy.

Against the backdrop of news against Benzem in the national team on Euro 2016, even French Prime Minister Manuel Waltz spoke out. Due to public pressure, the head coach of the national team Didier Desham did not let Benzema into the tournament.

The striker accused the coach of passing the tournament: “He [deshas] succumbed to pressure from the racist part of France. In sports terms, I do not understand this decision. I am not convicted of legal, not found guilty, you need to wait for an order of justice. ”

The decision of justice had to wait five years. In November 2021, Benzema was found guilty of complicity in an attempt to blackmail and sentenced to a year a fine of 75 thousand euros. At the same time, the court found that the football player did not realize the criminal nature of his actions.

Return to the national team

In 2021, a few months before the court decision in the Valbuan case, Benzema returned to the French national team five years later. During this time, the head of the French football federation Noel Le Greg managed to declare the finish of the striker’s career in the national team, and Benzema himself tried to make Algerian sports citizenship. But the inspired game of Benzem for Madrid Real Madrid forced the coach to change his mind on the eve of the European Championship in 2021. It is still unknown who was the initiator of the meeting one on one and what it was in content, but after it to Desha sharply decided to return Benzem to the national team.

Emmanuel Macron was very pleased with this step and called Benzem "an example for people with an immigrant past." Moreover, he saw in this return a symbolic act for the whole nation:

“Benzema has melted, and I am glad that he returned to the team. I think the coach made the right choice - for the good of the team, for the good of football. He also committed an act symbolic for the nation. He shows that you may have disagreements, but people change, grow up, correct their mistakes. Benzema has matured - both as a player and as a person. We can feel this. "

New conflict

Despite the departure of France to the 1/8 finals of Euro 2020, it seemed that all the misunderstandings of Benzem with the national team and politicians behind.

He was continued to call the national team next year, and in September 2022, a month before the World Cup in Qatar, Karim received the Golden Ball-the most prestigious football reward from the French weekly France Football. For the first time in 24 years, the Frenchman became the winner, and again the cabal: in 1998, Zinedin Zidan took the prize.

Macron congratulated Benzem on Twitter and in a short message did not miss the opportunity to draw a parallel between Karim and Zidan. This is an important rhyme, because Zidane looks like a guide not only in sports, but also in positioning itself in a multicultural French society:

“I always remember who I am and where I come from, and I am proud of those who I am. First of all, I am a cabal from Castellan, then I am an Algerian from Marseille and, finally, I am a Frenchman. ”

In a similar way, Macron wanted to imagine Benzema.

But the World Cup in Qatar finally broke the relations of Benzem with the national team and the president of France. Due to a short injury, Karim could not start the tournament, but it was expected that if the team goes far around the tournament, Benzema could play in decisive matches.

But suddenly the player was sent to the base of his club "Real" to Spain. Then rumors appeared in the press about the new conflict of Benzem with Desham, in which the key players of the team either supported the coach or retained neutrality.

The national team went to the final: Emmanuel Macron personally invited Benzema to come and even offered him a presidential aircraft, but Karim rejected the proposal, and immediately after the tournament ended his career in the national team.

At the end of the season, Benzema suddenly left Real Madrid, where he played almost the entire career, and moved to the team from the Saudi Arabia League, which aimed at all age stars. And while most players explained the transition to Saudi Arabia with a political correct phrase “Interesting Project”, and in some cases they even directly talked about money for the main reason, Benzema gave a completely different motivation: “Because I am a Muslim, and this is a Muslim country. I always wanted to live there. "

A few months after the transition to Al Ittihad, Karim wrote a tweet about the gas sector, which is now reacting not far -right populists, and not because Benzema ignores the country's anthem. Emmanuel Macron does not react to the scandal.

Over the year, Karim has gone from congratulations and invitation to a personal plane from Macron to the status of the most criticized top sportsman of the country, who twice failed the national team. Benzema turned into a legend of football for the whole world, but never became it for France.