French footballer Karim Benzema has denied the accusations by Interior Minister Gerald Daramanin that the former Real Madrid star has links with the Islamic terrorist group Muslim Brotherhood. Benzema, who currently plays in the Saudi league, has issued a denial through his lawyer.
While speaking to “conservative” news channel CNews on Monday (16th October), French Interior Minister Daramanin alleged that footballer Karim Benzema has “a notorious connection, as we all know, with the Muslim Brotherhood.”
“We are fighting the hydra that is the Muslim Brotherhood because it creates an atmosphere of jihadism,” Daramanin added.
On Thursday (19th October) Daramanin, in an interview with BFMTV, slammed the former French striker for not expressing sympathies for the 1400 Israelis killed by Hamas even though Benzema expressed solidarity with the Gaza residents.
“Benzema still hasn’t made a tweet for the murder of this teacher in Arras … for the beheaded babies …. for the raped women, for the 1,300 massacred by Islamist terrorism in Israel,” Darmanin said.
“If Mr. Benzema is able to show in front of 20 million people who follow him, including those who follow him because he now lives in Saudi Arabia and because he is eminently French, that he also mourns the death of this teacher, I will withdraw my comments,” Daramanin continued.
Daramanin went on to say that Karim Benzema has made the” extremely selective choice” to use the same discourse as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Meanwhile, Benzema’s lawyer Hugues Vigier has denied the allegations levelled against the footballer claiming that Benzema has never had any connection with the Muslim Brotherhood. He added that Benzema’s X post about the people of Gaza was just an expression of “natural compassion with what many today describe as war crimes being committed in Gaza, but which does not detract from the horror of the terrorist acts of October 7, something not open to discussion”. Vigier added that his team is considering to sue Minister Daramanin over his allegations against the footballer.
Notably, after Daramanin’s comments regarding Karim Benzema’s alleged links with the terrorist group Muslim Brotherhood, French Senator Valerie Boyer, vice-president of the conservative Les Républicains Party, called to strip Benzema of his French citizenship and Ballan d’Or award.
In a press conference on Wednesday (18th October), Boyer said, “If the remarks of the Minister of the Interior are proven, consider a symbolic sanction by withdrawing the Ballon d’Or” from Karim Benzema. We cannot accept that an internationally known French dual national could dishonour and even betray our country in this way.”