It's a subject that comes up regularly.
It was in 2016, just after his non-selection at Euro 2016, Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema accused Didier Deschamps, the Blues coach, of having yielded to "a racist part of France ".
This Saturday, on RTL, the boss of the Blues admitted that he will “never” forget this episode which left a painful “trace”.
"It's a trace. Even if over time it calms down a bit, I cannot forget", confided Didier Deschamps https://t.co/7HK0ZSZPTf
- RTL France (@RTLFrance) January 16, 2021
Since his indictment at the end of 2015 in the case of blackmail with the sextape exerted on Mathieu Valbuena, for which he was sent back to correctional, the Madrilenian has no longer been called to the Blues.
"Deschamps gave in under the pressure of a racist part of France", had accused Benzema on June 1, 2016 in the Spanish press, two days before the Breton residence of the coach was vandalized, with a tag calling him "racist" .
"There, it crosses the white line"
“It's a trace.
Even if over time it calms down a bit, I can't forget.
It is not related only to Karim Benzema.
There are also statements from other people who have led to this violent fact and which affects my family, ”said Deschamps.
The boss of the 2018 world champions assures us that he accepts all the criticisms of his “managerial choices” but “there, it crosses the white line.
It affects my name, my family.
For me, this is unacceptable ”.
“Saying certain things necessarily leads to verbal or physical aggression.
I suffer the consequences.
We cannot forget.
I can not forget.
I will never forget, ”he said.
On the eve of Euro 2016, Eric Cantona had declared in a British daily that Benzema and Hatem Ben Arfa were not selected because of their origins.
Last December, Deschamps' defamation complaint was declared void on procedural grounds, but the manager had to appeal, according to his lawyer.