'Forget about me,' Benzema asks French football president

Madrid (AFP) – Karim Benzema made clear on Wednesday that he wishes Noel Le Graet, the president of the French football association (FFF), would stop talking about him.

“Monsieur Le Graet, I ask you to forget about me.” the Real Madrid striker, who has not played for France since 2015, tweeted.

Le Graet had said in an interview with French newspapers that the 30-year-old Benzema’s time with Les Bleus “was finished.”

Benzema’s answering tweet went on: “France are world champions and that’s the essential thing, the rest is just futile. Thankyou,” before adding the French and English hashtags: “CaSuffit” (“That will do”) and “GiveMeABreak”.

Benzema, who has 21 goals and 81 caps for France, was not selected for the World Cup and has not figured in a national squad since he was charged for his alleged role in the blackmail of fellow international Mathieu Valbuena.

“I have nothing against Karim,” said Le Graet. “He has always carried himself well in the French team, but I think Les Bleus are over for him, especially since he may be less fit than before.”

In May, after Le Graet said in an interview with AFP that the striker was “ancient history”, Benzema again responded on Twitter.

“Monsieur Le Graet, with all the respect that I owe you, you have missed an opportunity to shut up,” he wrote.

Benzema is awaiting a ruling from a Paris court on whether he has a case to answer in the long-running Valbuena “sex-tape” affair.