Karim Benzema's hopes of returning to France's national football team appear to be shrinking.
In an interview with local newspaper Ouest France published Wednesday, French football federation president Noel Le Graet played down the Real Madrid striker's chances of a recall.
'I believe that it's over for him with Les Bleus, especially since he may have been less fit for some time,' Le Graet said.
Benzema, whose last game with France was in October 2015, has been named in the 30-man shortlist for the Ballon d'Or award for the best player of the year. But his relationship with France coach Didier Deschamps remains frosty.
Deschamps has not called up Benzema since he claimed that the national team coach bowed to the pressure of a racist part of France when agreeing to leave him out of the group of players for the 2016 European Championship.
Benzema's suspected involvement in an extortion scam over a sex tape featuring France team-mate Mathieu Valbuena also did not help his case.
'It's been three or four years that (this case) has been dragging,' Le Graet said. 'A ruling should have been issued much earlier. It made things hard for us.'
Benzema scored 27 international goals in his 81 appearances with France.
leavessS
262
Deschamps’ decision is absolutely correct! He is the true core of France!
HarryMukete
249
Benzema a Ballon d'Or nominee meeen..do you ever look at things at wonder how they got there??
sunnysayus
247
France have abundance of young,outstanding and energic talents.Benzema does not fit into the squad anymore.with Greizman and Mbape at their brilliant bests,it will be a very costly mistake to bring in Benzema.Infact Real Madrid should find a good replacement for him as quickly as possible because his inconsistency is a deterrent for victory.
BabaNla_14
219
What an insult, u guy's don't call him before the World Cup, to let him be among the Hero, u are now saying trash right now
Birať1111
168
Benzema one mistake costs this much,he should have think earlier before doing that Kanda thing ,he should’ve thinked about its consequences...how unlucky he is ,France won the World Cup 🏟 but he wasn’t in the squad ..it’s really sad 😞..
Marchleno107
151
Everyone stop telling this about Benzema,idk why everyone hate him,he's not just a football player he is also a human being and has heart and the ppl who are talking about Benzema compare him to yourself and see who is better.he's really a nice player but needs ppls support so how will he get support when everyone is judging him with his own words RESPECT
lifesoga
140
Facts have proved that the French team without Benzema is still a strong team in the world!
OmniSlash
114
I mean, he probably laughed at the joke of Benzema being a Ballon D'or nominee lol he does not need to be so cold hearted to the poor guy
swagchicken
94
He is better than giroud but is not needed on the squad anymore. France have a lot of young players that have potential.