Internet Desk: Karim Benzema unleashed a new storm of controversy by saying French coach Didier Deschamps had “bowed to pressure from a racist part of France” by keeping him out of the Euro 2016 squad.
However, politicians and France’s football establishment leaped to Deschamps defence over the interview that the Real Madrid star gave to a Spanish newspaper.
Benzema, who is of Algerian origin, was excluded from France’s squad after being charged with complicity in an attempt to blackmail France teammate Mathieu Valbuena over a sextape.
But questions about the motives for excluding Benzema and fellow striker Hatem Ben Arfa, whose father was a Tunisian international, have been raised by France football legend Eric Cantona, setting off a new racism debate.
Marca sports daily asked Benzema whether he believed Deschamps was racist.
“No, I don’t think so. But he bowed to pressure from a racist part of France,” Benzema replied, referring to the right-wing National Front.
“They said I cannot be selected, fine. But on a sporting level, I don’t understand why,” he said.
“At a legal level, I am still innocent until proven guilty. They should wait until the justice system has made its decision.”
The forward said he was “convinced” his suspension was due to outside forces.
And Cantona weighed into the debate again in an interview published on the Liberation newspaper website yesterday night.
The former Manchester United star said last year’s Paris terror attacks meant that “the north African community is viewed differently”, adding that French society is “punishing an entire community”.
When France won the World Cup in 1998 it was hailed as a major step for recognising the country’s multi-cultural roots.
However the National Front’s rise in recent elections and polls has brought immigration and race back into the political debate.
National Front deputy leader Florian Philippot laid into Benzema on Twitter, declaring: “The French people should not have to put up with your unworthy accusations because you flee your responsibilities.”
Cantona, though, defended Benzema, saying he’d reacted “like a French citizen”.
Mainstream parties also leapt to Deschamps’s defence.
French Sports Minister Patrick Kanner said: “I can understand Mr Benzema’s disappointment but under no circumstances are his statements acceptable regarding what he said about Mr Deschamps’s sporting decisions nor his personality.