French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin claims Karim Benzema has ties to terrorist organisation | OneFootball

France’s Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin has claimed that former Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema (35) has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, which is classified as a terrorist organisation by multiple nation-states, including Saudi Arabia, where the Frenchman currently plays his club football.

On Sunday, the former France international Benzema took to X to pay tribute to Gazan victims. “All our prayers for the habitants of Gaza, once again victims of these unfair bombings that spare neither women nor children,” he said. Those comments have already drawn a response from a French politician, prior to Darmanin’s intervention on Tuesday.

Speaking to C News, Nadine Morano, a member of the European Parliament since 2014, called the former France international an “agent of Hamas propaganda.” Morano, a member of Les Republicains since 2016, was removed from the party’s list for regional elections after she said France was a “white race” country, and that it must stay that way.

Darmanin was also speaking to C News when he said that Benzema “has notorious ties, as we all know, with the Muslim Brotherhood.” The organisation is classed as a terrorist organisation in seven countries, including Saudi Arabia where the current holder of the Ballon d’Or plays his club football with Al Ittihad. The Muslim Brotherhood are also classed as a terrorist organisation in Russia, Syria, Egypt, Bahrain, the UAE and Austria.

Valérie Boyer, a French senator, and like Morano, a member of Les Republicains, has called for Benzema’s French nationality, as well as his Ballon d’Or to be rescinded, should Darmanin’s allegations be proven. Darmanin’s entourage have since sought to clarify the comments made by the Interior Minister on Benzema. “For several years, we have noted a slow drift of positions taken by Benzema, towards a hard, rigorous Islam, characteristic of the Brotherhood ideology, which consists of spreading Islamic norms in different societal spaces, notably in sport,” Darmanin’s entourage told RMC Sport.

Darmanin’s entourage has said that these claims are based on numerous factors, including Benzema’s refusal to sing La Marseillaise, France’s national anthem, the Al-Ittihad forward having taken a picture with the Imam of Meaux, his support for Russian MMA fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov, and his attempts to convert on social media.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle