Karim Benzema in trouble: in France they ask that his nationality be taken away

French conservative senator Valérie Boyer called for footballer Karim Benzema’s nationality is revoked if the alleged and unproven links with the jihadist group Muslim Brotherhood are confirmed, as suggested by Interior Minister Gérarld Darmanin.

“If the statements of the Minister of the Interior are confirmed, we have to consider sanctions against Karim Benzema. A symbolic sanction would be first take away the Ballon d’Or. Then we have to ask that his nationality is withdrawn“said the legislator in a statement.

The reaction of the senator from Los Republicanos (LR) comes two days after in a television interview Darmanin accused the former Real Madrid player without evidence of having links to that radical Islamic group born in Egypt.

“Mr Benzema has links, everyone knows it, it is notorious, with the Muslim Brotherhood“said the French official.

Boyer recalled that Benzema has dual French and Algerian nationality. “We cannot accept that a French binational, recognized international, disgraces and betrays our country like this,” he said.

The minister had been asked before about the message that Karim Benzema posted on social networks in support of the Palestinian population.

Darmanin considered that players of Benzema’s fame “have a responsibility” and influence on youth that should have led him to be more even-handed.

But it was later, when he was responding to a question about his Government’s actions to counter jihadist terrorism in French territory, when Darmanin launched his accusation against the footballer, without providing evidence.

“For weeks I have been particularly interested (…) in the Muslim Brotherhood,” said the minister, who at that time alluded to Benzema’s alleged links with that Islamist group, also classified as terrorist by the authorities of Saudi Arabia.

This part of the minister’s statements, made at the same time that France reinforced security on its border with Belgium after the Islamist attack in Brussels on Monday afternoon, did not have an echo in France until they were picked up late on Tuesday by some Spanish media.

On Wednesday, sources from the Ministry of the Interior justified the accusation launched by Darmanin in several actions of the player that constitute “a drift towards a harsh, rigorous Islam, characteristic of the ideology” of the Muslim Brotherhood “which consists of disseminating Islamic norms in different spaces of society, especially in sports.”

In statements to RMC Sport, these Interior sources alluded to controversial situations in which Benzema has been involved, such as his refusal to sing La Marseillaise in matches with France or his “proselytism” on social networks “in favor of religion.” Muslim.”

They also recalled that the forward was photographed next to the imam of the city of Meaux, investigated in the context of the murder of Professor Samuel Paty, beheaded in October 2020 by an Islamist of Chechen origin.

Another example is Benzema’s support for the Russian fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov, who published a message wishing “that the Almighty disfigure this trash” of Emmanuel Macron and “to all his disciples who, in the name of freedom of expression, insult the faith of more than 1.5 billion Muslims.”

For the Interior, all these cases do not allow him to be taken to court, but “they constitute a particularly ambiguous signal for an athlete who has so many audiences.”

Benzema, 35, who played 97 international matches before ending his career with the French national team in 2022 due to constant disagreements with the coach, Didier Deschamps, has been at Saudi Al-Ittihad since this season, after 14 seasons in the real Madrid. With information from EFE.

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