Despite his suspended sentence of one year in prison and a 75,000 euro fine by the Versailles Criminal Court in the sextape case, Karim Benzema “is indispensable and indisputable within Real Madrid “Juan Jose Dorado, Spanish journalist specializing in football, said on franceinfo on Wednesday November 24th.
Real player “keep the confidence of the fans, Real Madrid and most of the media”, believes the journalist, while Karim Benzema was found guilty of complicity in attempting to blackmail the intimate video towards Mathieu Valbuena. Karim Benzema’s lawyers have announced that they will appeal the ruling.
franceinfo: What has Real Madrid’s position been up to now vis-à-vis this affair and Karim Benzema?
Juan Jose Dorado: Since the early days, Karim Benzema has counted on the unbroken support of Real Madrid, in particular from its president who has always supported him. A priori, this should not change because of the judgment, especially since Karim Benzema will appeal this judicial decision. This player is indispensable and indisputable within Real Madrid. The club is also playing Wednesday night in the Champions League: we could say that this case will weaken the team but, what we are currently seeing is that for six years Karim Benzema has not, sportingly speaking , never weakened on the side of Real. He has always been a holder. Today, more than ever, Karim Benzema is an indispensable player, a leader on the pitch, the top scorer in Spanish La Liga and Real Madrid. He is in the race for the Golden Ball and the title of best UEFA player in 2021 We’ll see how it goes on the pitch on Wednesday night. He’s never wavered for six years, so why should he falter against the Moldovans today? We know perfectly well that it is the qualification for Real Madrid in the round of 16 that is at stake.
We still experienced a more serene climate for a player because there is what is in the legs but also what is in the head?
It’s true. This is why we are going to scrutinize its performance on the ground. We all know that, somewhere, he can necessarily be touched but, at the same time, we must take into account his professionalism for six years, the fact that he was excluded from the France team, the controversies with Didier Deschamps … Despite everything, it never weakened him sportingly. Whether on the side of Madrid or the Spanish fans, everyone wants to believe that he will perform very well on Wednesday. He will indeed come to Versailles to explain himself.
Are the supporters supporting him?
Yes, the supporters support Karim Benzema. He is a very discreet person in Spain. There have never been any issues with Karim Benzema. He’s someone who supported coaches who roughed him up – I think of Mourinho. But the fans, Real Madrid aficionados, have always supported him. He has a very good image on the Spanish side, whether personally, in his private life or as a top athlete. He even has the support of journalists here. I think there was some clumsiness on the part of Karim Benzema. Does this clumsiness deserve a one-year sentence? Does this clumsiness deserve a fine? May be. But, we journalists, we find, at first glance, that indeed, this was a rather heavy sentence for what had been requested. He retains the confidence of supporters, Real Madrid and most of the media. Even the Catalan sports newspapers which could attack Karim Benzema did not do so this morning when we heard the judgment.