French football’s hope that troubled star Karim Benzema had turned a corner and could finally deliver on his potential appeared in tatters on Thursday as he admitted involvement in an alleged extortion case.
Before last year’s World Cup, Benzema was lauded for his new-found maturity and responsibility and touted as a changed man who could be a leader and ambassador for his country’s football team.
His difficult past included the accusation that he had paid for sex with an underage prostitute in 2008, but a court dropped the charges in January 2014.
But having seemingly put that sordid affair behind him, Benzema has failed to leave his scandal-tainted history in the past.
Only last month he was caught driving without a valid licence in Madrid, while two years ago he was fined 18,000 euros ($19,600) and had his licence revoked for speeding.
But this latest incident could be the most damaging yet for Benzema’s reputation.
Having admitted to helping a childhood friend negotiate between blackmailers and Benzema’s France international team-mate Mathieu Valbuena in order to extort money, Benzema’s standing is set to hit a new low.
And whereas in the past he could be excused for youthful naivety, at 27 years of age, such a justification looks paper thin.
He will now find it harder than ever to escape from the shackles of doubt and suspicion that have always accompanied the talented forward.
Born in Lyon to a family with Algerian roots, Benzema was a teenage star when he made his France debut in 2007 at just 19.
Two years later he earned a mega-money move to Spanish giants Real Madrid, where he still plays, and many believed he had the world at his feet.
But the pot-holes have been numerous and regular on his path, from a professional as well as personal standpoint.
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During the dry spell that started in June 2012, Benzema was at times jeered by a section of France’s fans, who accused him of not trying hard enough for the shirt.
He was also targeted by some fans upset at his refusal to sing the French national anthem, although all was forgiven once he found the net.
He was in good form during the World Cup in Brazil last year.
But his current campaign has been interrupted by injury and on Thursday he missed out on France’s squad for friendlies later this month against Germany and England due to a hamstring problem.
He will recover from that but forgiveness may be harder to come by once the full details of the extortion affair come to light and Benzema, the unloved French prodigy, may again be forced into rebuilding his tarnished image.