Karim Benzema demands France to allow him to switch allegiance after latest snub despite being in prolific form for Real Madrid.
Karim Benzema will without a doubt go down as one of the best players to have donned the Real Madrid jersey. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about his international career with France. 27 goals in 81 matches aren’t numbers to fawn over.
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Unfortunately, for the striker, he has not been given the opportunity to improve on those numbers. He has been permanently dropped from the side since 2015. Karim Benzema was accused of blackmailing team-mate Mathieu Valbuena over a sex tape back in 2015.
Although Benzema has vehemently denied any involvement, he has not featured in national colours since. The striker has since attributed many reasons for his exclusion; including racism as well as French football federation President Noel Le Graet being involved in the team selections.
Le Graet seemed to prove Benzema’s point when he suggested that the striker would never be seen in French colours again in his career. He told RMC Sport:
“For me, Benzema is a very good player. I have never criticised his qualities.
“On the contrary, he is proving again this year at Madrid that he is one of the best players in his position. But the adventure with France is over.”
DD ne se positionnant pas clairement sur @Benzema c’est LE Graet qui lui ferme définitivement la porte de l’EDF ! Pour rappel Noël l’année dernière vous disiez que Karim n’était plus en forme et était sur le déclin #QuiDecide #Malaise #Injuste https://t.co/ZR1F05IQAQ
— Karim Djaziri (@KDjaziri) November 16, 2019
Karim Benzema demands France to allow him to switch allegiance after latest snub
The Real Madrid frontman did not take kindly to the comment. He responded on twitter asking the selection matters to remain in the hands of head coach Didier Deschamps. He then threatened to play for another international team.
Noël je croyais que vous n’interfériez pas dans les décisions du sélectionneur!Sachez que c’est moi et moi seul qui mettrait un terme à ma carrière internationale.
Si vous pensez que je suis terminé, laissez moi jouer pour un des pays pour lequel je suis éligible et nous verrons.— Karim Benzema (@Benzema) November 16, 2019
Karim Benzema, who is of Algerian descent, wrote:
“Noel, I thought that you did not interfere with the decisions of the national team coach!
“Know that it will be me and me alone who decides when my international career is over.
“If you think that I am finished, let me play for a country that I am eligible to play for and we will see.”
Per the FIFA rules though, a player can not play for two different countries. They can only switch nations if they have not featured in a competitive match for that country. Unfortunately, Benzema falls outside that category.
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