K Benzema accuses France coach Didier Deschamps is 'bowing to racist pressure’

 

Karim Benzema has claimed that Didier Deschamps, ‘bowed to pressure from a racist part of France removing him from his squad for the Euro 2016.

The 28-year-old, real madrid forward, was suspended by the French Football Federation in December after he was questioned by police in connection to an alleged blackmail attempt against international team-mate Mathieu Valbuena.

Karim, who helped Real Madrid earn a penalty shoot-out victory over neighbours Atletico Madrid in this season’s Champions League final on Saturday, asked to be reconsidered for selection in April, but got told he wouldn’t be playing for the french team, which will be held in France.

The striker has now claimed that Deschamps’ decision to uphold the suspension and omit him from his squad may have been influenced by political pressure and been made on the grounds of his ethnicity.

"He has bowed to the pressure of a racist part of France," 

"I do not know, therefore, whether it is a decision only for Didier because I've gotten along with him, with the president, everyone.

Benzema said in an interview, the Spanish daily sports newspaper.

Benzema showed his desire to play for France again and claimed not to understand why he had been omitted from the national team set-up, given that he has not been convicted of any crime.

"In sporting terms, I do not understand why, ”At the judicial level, I have not been judged. I am not guilty, so we have to wait to see what the justice says.

"I like football and to play with my team."

“One thing is for sure – Benzema is one of the best players in France and will not play the European Championship. The debate is open.”

Jamel Debbouze, one of France's best-known actors and of Moroccan descent, echoed Cantona's sentiments and claimed that Benzema is “paying the price” of the country’s suspicious attitude toward young people of north African origin.

Current polling for France’s next presidential election in 2017 shows Marine Le Pen, president of the far-right Front National party, in second place behind candidates from the centre-right UMP.