Europe 1 with AFP 19:07 p.m., March 30, 2023

Attacked for several months on the antenna of RMC by the sports journalist Daniel Riolo on his management of the case Karim Benzema on the sidelines of the World Cup in Qatar, the coach of the Blues Didier Deschamps has decided to take the case to court. The latter decided to sue the journalist for defamation.

The coach of the French team Didier Deschamps has filed a complaint for defamation in Paris against journalist and columnist Daniel Riolo, we learned from a source close to the case Thursday. The 54-year-old coach, at the helm of the Blues since 2012, took legal action Wednesday, two days after the end of the March gathering of the France team. He filed a complaint with the Paris judicial court, with a civil party, according to the same source.

He accuses Daniel Riolo, a journalist and columnist on RMC radio, of having made defamatory remarks against him in the After Foot programme. "Didier Deschamps has no problem with criticism, even bitter, but here he is attacked on his probity, his honesty. Daniel Riolo says of him that he is a manipulator, a liar, these are unbearable remarks, "responded his lawyer Isabelle Wekstein, interviewed by AFP. She denounced a "permanent relentlessness" of the journalist.

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Offensive remarks

The columnist had notably made offensive remarks towards the coach around the announcement of his contract extension until 2026, in January. "Deschamps lied to us from A to Z, but lying is something he handles perfectly," he said on air in early January about the management of Karim Benzema during the 2022 World Cup.

"I think that (Noël) Le Graët (former president of the Federation) is the puppet of Deschamps," he had also launched on January 8 following controversial statements by the boss of the FFF on Zinedine Zidane, whom he "would not even have taken on the phone" to discuss the position of coach.

"If you were a small player and just a water carrier, nobody can do anything about it. Be content with what you have had without pouring hatred on others," he had cursed at her. Deschamps' Les Bleus have played their first two post-World Cup meetings in recent days, signing two victories against the Netherlands (4-0) and Ireland (1-0).