The return of Karim Benzema to the French football team is accompanied by the return of controversies about him. The Real Madrid striker was recalled Tuesday, May 18 by the coach, Didier Deschamps, in view of the Euro, which will begin on June 11. This sporting decision also fuels the political debate, at least for several elected representatives of the National Rally (RN), who accuse the footballer of not respecting France. But their assertions take great liberty with the facts.
What they said
RN Jordan Bardella MEP estimated on Franceinfo, Thursday, May 20, that Karim Benzema ” at[vait] had a dishonorable attitude when representing sport. When he said he refused to sing The Marseillaise (…), Mr. Benzema made it clear that his country was Algeria, and that France was just for the sporting side ”.
Senator RN of Bouches-du-Rhône Stéphane Ravier made similar comments, always on Franceinfo, from Tuesday: “I remember his statements: I am French for football, but I am Algerian by heart”, he lamented, before claiming that the footballer would love France only for the money:
“He is French by papers, yes. (…) It is Karim Benzema who expresses himself best on his belonging to France, on his love for France, on his attachment to France. And he lets us know that he loves France when it comes to football, that is to say when he wins astronomical sums. But when it comes to being attached to a homeland, to a nation, to roots, it is rather the Algerian nation that he prefers. “
Still according to Stéphane Ravier, “There is also football in Algeria … Maybe the salaries are less important there, and that is certainly why he continues to play here in Europe in general and perhaps in France in particular in a few days “.
WHY THIS IS WRONG
1. Karim Benzema never said that France was “fair” for the sporting side
These accusations made against Karim Benzema distort the remarks he made on the subject. The former Lyon striker never said France was “Just for the sporting side”, contrary to what Jordan Bardella claims.
Born in Lyon in 1987, Karim Benzema has dual Franco-Algerian nationality. He could therefore, in theory, play for one of the two national teams. But he quickly chose, as he explained in 2006 in the program “Luis attacks”, of RMC :
“Sportingly, it is true that I will play for the France team. I will always be there for the France team. ”
During this program, the footballer is relaunched several times on the subject, for example when the journalist Florian Genton asks him if he asked himself the question of playing for Algeria, or if he says directly that ” vs’[étai]t the French team for the sporting side ”. Karim Benzema then answers:
“It’s more for the sporting side, because Algeria is my country, there you are, my parents come from there. Afterwards, France is more sporty, that’s it. “
In this interview, Karim Benzema explained his choice to wear the jersey of the France team rather than that of Algeria. A sporty choice, therefore. At no time in this interview does the player discuss his relationship with France, or compare his attachment to his two nationalities. This does not therefore mean that France in itself would have ” fair “ a sporting dimension in his eyes, as the journalist of Franceinfo Salhia Brakhlia reminded Jordan Bardella.
The football player came back to the question in 2017 :
“When I say that, me, the sporting side, is that at the time there was no photo in fact. We are talking about football, there was no photo between Algeria and France. It’s not a question like “I feel more Algerian”, France, I don’t know what… It’s nonsense. ”
2. What he really says about France
More generally, Jordan Bardella and Stéphane Ravier criticize Karim Benzema for not respecting France. Especially because he doesn’t sing The Marseillaise.
Admittedly, the player is not among those who sing the national anthem before the matches in selection, and he does not hide it. But should this be seen as a sign that he is sulking the country where he was born and lived most of his life? ” It has nothing to do with [le fait que] I don’t like the France team or I don’t know what, as I could hear, he retorted on RMC in 2013. I like the France team. As I said, it’s a dream for me to play for the France team. They won’t force me to sing The Marseillaise. “
He also made similar comments in the documentary The K Benzema, broadcast on Canal + in 2017:
“You have to tell people that they don’t care. I do not spit on the jersey of the France team, on the country, as I could hear. I love the France team and I rejoice every time I play for France. “
3. Footballers are not paid to play for the French team
Finally, the reasoning of Stéphane Ravier does not hold when he tries to explain the choice of Karim Benzema to play for the France team by financial interests. Indeed, the players of the France team do not receive a salary when they play for the national team (they remain, however, paid by their respective clubs).
They receive bonuses linked to their results, which correspond to part of the endowment paid by the International Football Federation. The French victory at the 2018 World Cup thus made it possible to distribute 18.9 million euros among the twenty-three players selected – sums partly donated to associations.
Certainly, it is more likely to go far in an international competition and hope to receive a bonus in the French selection than with the Algerian selection. But these sums remain ultimately modest compared to the other income of the Madrid player, who receives more than 10 million euros in gross annual salary at the club.
Finally, we can note that Karim Benzema has so far been rather illustrated by his “fiscal patriotism”, as revealed by the Football Leaks published by Mediapart in 2016. Unlike many top athletes, he continues to pay taxes in France. The company which manages the rights to the image of the player is thus domiciled in France, while he could have benefited from a much more advantageous tax status in Spain.