French senator wants Karim Benzema’s Ballon d’Or title, citizenship be stripped

French senator Valerie Boyer has called for footballer Karim Benzema’s Ballon d’Or award to be revoked and his citizenship stripped after recent statements on the Israel-Hamas conflict.

It also comes on the heels of French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin outrightly saying Benzema belongs to Muslim Brotherhood, a religious and political group that is designated as a terrorist group by France.

Benzema posted a message on Sunday, 15 October, where he spoke about the attacks on Gaza Strip. In his post, the former Real Madrid striker said: “All our prayers go out to the people of Gaza, victims once again of unjust bombings that spare neither women nor children.”

After this tweet, Darmanin said Benzema had links to the Muslim Brotherhood. A portion of Darmanin’s remarks, as reported by French TV outlet CNews, reads: “We have closed 1,100 Islamist establishments. And in recent weeks, I’ve been particularly interested, Mr. Benzema is linked, we all know it, notoriously with the Muslim Brotherhood.”