After a long time without talking about the issue, Didier Deschamps revealed he will never forget the accusations from Karim Benzema.
Didier Deschamps has managed without having to call Karim Benzema to represent France in the biggest tournaments. He decided to use other strikers like Olivier Giroud instead for a very specific reason. In case you were living under a rock, Karim Benzema and Mathieu Valbuena were involved in a sex tape scandal a while back.
Due to this, Deschamps decided to punish them for a period of time until the matter was resolved. However, Karim Benzema got himself expelled from the squad for good due to a controversial statement he made against the manager. In a famous interview for Marca, Karim accused the coach of racism and provoked reactions that even put his family in danger. This is something that Deschamps will never forget or forgive.
Deschamps clears the reasons behind Benzema’s ban.
In an interview with Radio RTL, the France manager left his reasons behind Karim Benzema’s ban very clear. He had the courage to not call the Real Madrid player during his absolute prime and still won the FIFA World Cup in 2018.
“This is a print that is hard to erase. Even if people forget it in time, I can never forget it. It’s not only related to Karim Benzema. There are also statements from other people that led to a violent act that affected my family. When it’s about technical stuff that is related to my job as a manager, it’s normal and I don’t care. But this crossed a line for me. It affects my name, mi family. To me, this is completely unacceptable. To say certain things that necessarily conduct to a verbal or physical aggression. I suffer the consequences. We cannot forget. I just can’t. I never will.”