French Minister unfoundedly accuses soccer star Karim Benzema
Shafaq News / He’s one of French soccer’s most famous stars, but 2022 Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema finds himself mired in political controversy amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
Speaking to French outlet CNews on Monday, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin accused Benzema of having connections to the Muslim Brotherhood, a religious and political group which France considers a terrorist organization.
In the televised interview, Darmanin said: “We have closed 1,100 Islamist establishments. And in recent weeks, I’ve been particularly interested, Mr. Benzema is linked, we all know it, notoriously with the Muslim Brotherhood.
“We are attacking a hydra that is the Muslim Brotherhood because they create an ‘atmospheric jihadism,’ like Gilles Kepel would say,” added Darmanin, referring to the political scientist.
Darmanin did not provide any evidence to support his claims. CNN has reached out to the French Interior Ministry for clarification on Darmanin’s comments.
Benzema won the UEFA Champions League five times and scored 354 goals for Real Madrid, before making a move this past summer to Saudi Pro League team Al-Ittihad.
The striker has 97 appearances for France’s men’s national team, scoring 37 goals, and is widely recognized as one of the greatest French players of all time. He retired from international duty last year after making his senior debut in 2007.
Darmanin’s allegations come after Benzema posted his support for Palestinians on Sunday in Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, which has killed at least 3,500 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Israel’s strikes in Gaza followed a large-scale terror attack in Israel carried out by its Hamas rulers on October 7 that killed 1,400 people in the country, according to Israeli officials.
(CNN)
