Amid calls for his 2022 Ballon d'Or trophy to be taken away, former Real Madrid star Karim Benzema has now responded after being linked with a terrorist group.
The France international's camp has denied the allegations and is reportedly considering taking legal action.
Read: Man Utd 'decide' Greenwood price tag
Earlier this week, France's interior minister Gerald Moussa Darmanin accused the striker of having "notorious" connections to terrorist organisation the Muslim Brotherhood, according to the Daily Mail.
This came after the Al Ittihad striker took to social media to vocalise his support for Palestinians in their ongoing conflict with Israel.
"All our prayers for the inhabitants of Gaza who are once again victims of these unjust bombings which spare no women or children," Benzema wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).
He has, however, received some strong backlash for making his stance public, with a number French politicians calling him out, Darmanin being one of them.
"Mr Benzema has notorious links with the Muslim Brotherhood," the politician CNews.
Meanwhile, French MEP Nadine Morano labelled him an "agent of Hamas".
"Just by writing that, he is an agent of Hamas propaganda because Hamas has a strategy to physically destroy Israel, but also to destroy Israel through international public opinion," she said.
It is now reported that Benzema is considering taking legal action against both politicians, with the player's lawyer making the considerations to take Darmanin to court public knowledge.
"We are considering proceedings against this minister in application, for example, of the law on the manipulation of information dear to our government... and defamation or even public insult, because this non-existent link with the Muslim Brotherhood, which he says is notorious, is obviously presented as derogatory," the lawyer told Le Parisien.
Another French politician, Valerie Boyer, has even suggested that the 35-year-old be stripped of his Ballon d'Or if he is linked to the terrorist organisation.
Read: New Neymar setback confirmed: 'It's worst moment of my life'
"If Karim Benzema is linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, we must at least withdraw from him the Ballon d'Or (symbolic sanction) but also and above all his French nationality. Compacting with those who declare war on us would amount to betraying one's country," Boyer wrote on X.
You must be SIGNED IN to read and post comments.
WATCH: