The vice-mayor of Marseille called for Benzema to be deprived of French citizenship and the Ballon d’Or
Deputy Mayor of Marseille Valérie Boyer on social media X (former name of Twitter) called for the deprivation of national team striker Karim Benzema of French citizenship and the Ballon d’Or.
“We cannot accept that a world-famous Frenchman with dual citizenship can disgrace and even betray our country in this way,” Boyer said.
On October 18, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin accused Benzema of having ties to a terrorist organization. The footballer expressed support for the people of Palestine amid the military conflict with Israel. He wrote on social media X that he was praying for the people of Gaza affected by the bombing.
On October 17, Benzema won the Ballon d’Or for the first time. In the dispute for the award, the Real Madrid forward beat out Barcelona’s Polish striker Robert Lewandowski, Bayern’s Senegalese forward Sadio Mane and Manchester City’s Belgian midfielder Kevin De Bruyne.
34-year-old Benzema defends the colors of the Saudi Al-Ittihad and the French national football team in the 2023/2024 season. The striker is also known for his performances for Real Madrid.
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