France ace Karim Benzema's legal representative has hit out at prime
minister Manuel Valls over his role in his client's Euro 2016 omission.
Karim Benzema's lawyer Eric
Dupont-Moretti has blamed France's prime minister Manuel Valls for the
Real Madrid striker's omission from France's squad for Euro 2016.
Benzema was
suspended from national team duty by the French football federation
(FFF) in December pending the outcome of a legal investigation into an
alleged plot to blackmail fellow international Mathieu Valbuena.
Although
the investigation is still ongoing, FFF president Noel Le Graet and
national team coach Didier Deschamps have now decided Benzema will not
be reinstated for the European Championship on home soil and
Dupont-Moretti believes Valls' comments on the matter played a big role
in the final decision.
Valls stressed back in
March that the Madrid attacker did not deserve to represent France so
long as the Valbuena case was ongoing, also criticising Benzema for
being a bad example.
"The prime minister interfered. I blame him for getting involved. That's not his job," Dupont-Moretti told RMC.
"I
have been told that Karim has never caused any problems within the
team. Had this decision been a technical one, then we would have had
nothing to say about it.
"I hope that Karim's absence will not hurt the team's chances at Euro 2016.
"I spoke to Karim on the phone. Of course this affects him. He is obviously suffering.
"We will not go to court in an attempt to force a return to the national team."
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