Valerie Boyer, the French senator for Bouches-du-Rhône (a department located in the south of France), asked this Wednesday to strip Karim Benzema of the Ballon d’Or and French citizenship if there were suspicions that Al-Ittihad striker has ‘connections with the Muslim Brotherhood’ are confirmed.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin accused the attacker of having ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, the oldest Islamic organization in the Arab world and a designated terrorist group in several countries.
“If the interior minister’s statements are true, we must consider sanctions against Karim Benzema. Initially, the symbolic sanction would have been to strip him of the Ballon d’Or. Finally, we will have to demand the loss of his citizenship. We can’t accept this. that a Frenchman with dual citizenship, known internationally, could thus disgrace and even betray his country,” explains Valerie Boyer in a statement published on Twitter.
The whole Benzema controversy comes three days after the French footballer gave a speech about the conflict in the Middle East, siding with Palestine and Gazans. “All our prayers are for the people of Gaza, who are once again victims of these unjust bombings that do not spare women and children,” can be read in Benzema’s post published on Sunday.