By Erwin Quiñonez
Sep 24, 2023, 17:01 PM EDT
The iconic former Real Madrid striker, current Saudi Arabian Al-Ittihad player, Karim Benzema, was accused of being “a friend of the Islamist ideology,” as Jordan Bardella, Marine Le Pen’s right-hand man and current president of the far-right, described him. National Group (RN)
“We must distinguish the work of the individual, he has surely been one of the best French footballers, but he is a regular of Islamist practices,” said this Sunday the politician who heads the list for the RN European elections for 2024, in an interview in the set of BFMTV.
These statements by Jordan Bardella come after he saw an image of the French striker in traditional Saudi clothing at the celebration of that nation’s national holiday, which was published on Al-Ittihad’s social networks.
Bardella (28 years old) supported this accusation, recalling that Karim Benzeman had already publicly expressed his joy at playing in a Muslim country and insisted that the fact of being photographed in that clothing indicates a certain ideological proximity.
“She is wearing a traditional Saudi dress. Saudi Arabia is, as far as I know, an Islamist state. I understand that it is a country in which they cut off the hands of those who steal,” stated the French politician, a protégé of Marine Le Pen, who voluntarily gave the presidency of the party to his young pupil.
Benzema, born in Lyon, but of Algerian origins, is retired from the French team, with which he played 97 games, and has filed several lawsuits against other figures of the French far-right for linking him to Muslim fundamentalism.
It is worth remembering that the Ballon d’Or winner left Real Madrid at the end of last season to change scene, signing for Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia, a league that has recruited several of the best players in the world, mainly this summer.