President of French Football Federation issues good news to Karim Benzema amid ongoing trial

The president of the French Football Federation Noël Le Graet says Karim Benzema will not face any further action on the part of the national team.

Benzema is currently caught up in a tribunal hearing over the sextape scandal involving former France international Mathieu Valbuena.

The Real Madrid striker is accused of complicity in an attempt to blackmail Valbuena, and the alleged incident played a huge part in the striker not being called up to the national team for a number of years.

His exile came to an end in the summer when he returned for Euro 2020 and Benzema remains part of the France squad today, recently helping his country to win the Nations League.

That’s despite the trial being ongoing, and president of the French Football Federation, Le Graet has confirmed that, regardless of the outcome of the trial, Benzema will remain in contention for call-ups.

He told Le Parisien via Dario AS: “To sanction Benzema? No. The coach will be responsible for his call-ups and he will not be excluded in respect of the possible judicial sanction.

“Similarly, if he receives a conditional prison sentence as a punishment, he has the right to appear.

“Then, if he is called up or not in the coming months will not be linked to the judicial process.”

As mentioned, Benzema missed out on international football for a number years as an unofficial punishment of sorts, so he has served his time so-to-speak, at least in football terms, over the alleged incident.

Tags French Football Federation Karim Benzema Real Madrid
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