French Prime Minister: "If Benzema is not exemplary he should not play for France"

Karim Benzema - Getty Image

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has weighed into the controversy surrounding Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema saying that "a great athlete should be exemplary" and if he is not there can be no place for him in the national team.

The 27 year old, who has scored 27 international goals, faces charges of conspiracy to blackmail relating to an extortion scam over a sex tape which two alleged blackmailers asked his international teammate and childhood friend Mathieu Valbuena for a significant sum of money in exchange for not releasing a sex tape of him and his wife on the internet.

 Meanwhile Valbuena hit back at his compatriot in a recent interview, accusing the Real Madrid man of "disappointing" him. "I wouldn't do that to my worst enemy"..

"A great athlete should be exemplary. If he is not, he has no place in the France team," Valls told French radio.

"There are so many kids, so many youngsters in our suburbs that relate to great athletes. They wear the blue jersey, the colours of France, which are so important in these moments."

Karim Benzema are one of the key players for his nation however both Benzema and Valbuena were left out of the squad in the friendly against England and both players could also be left out of the squad for the 2016 Euro Tournament.

Share on Google Plus

About Anonymous

This is a short description in the author block about the author. You edit it by entering text in the "Biographical Info" field in the user admin panel.