By Daily Sports Nigeria on December 20, 2022

• Benzema calls time on international career
France trio, Aurelien Tchouameni, Kingsley Coman and Randal Kolo Muani, all received racial abuse on their social media accounts in the aftermath of their national team’s World Cup final defeat, reports thenational.com. 

Coman and Tchouameni both missed penalties during the shootout in which Argentina won 4-2 after an entertaining 3-3 draw in Qatar, while Muani had a chance to win the game for France late in extra time, but was denied by Emiliano Martinez. 

The trio were bombarded with vile messages – including monkey and banana emojis – once Argentina were crowned champions on Sunday. 

The abuse of Tchouameni, 22, Coman, 26, and Kolo Muani, 24, is reminiscent of the abuse Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka received after they missed penalties in England’s Euro 2020 final defeat. 

Real Madrid’s Tchouameni has now limited comments on his Instagram posts, while Eintracht Frankfurt’s Kolo Muani has turned them off. 

Bayern Munich’s Coman is currently accepting comments on his posts. 

The Athletic contacted Meta, the company which owns Instagram, as well as Facebook and WhatsApp, for comment. 
A Meta spokesperson said: “We don’t want racist abuse on Instagram, and we’ve removed the disgusting comments for breaking our rules. 

“We also want to help protect people from having to see this abuse in the first place, which is why we’ve developed Hidden Words, a feature that filters offensive comments and DMs, and Limits, which hides comments and DMs from people who don’t follow you, or only followed you recently. 

“We’re in touch with players and their teams directly, including since yesterday’s final, to offer them support and help them turn on these tools.”

Meanwhile, France striker, Karim Benzema, yesterday, announced his retirement from international football on his 35th birthday, a day after Les Bleus lost to Argentina on penalties in the World Cup final.

Ballon d’Or winner, Benzema, who scored 37 times in 97 appearances, was expected to lead the line for France in Qatar, but missed the World Cup after suffering a thigh injury in training the day before the start of the tournament.

“I made the effort and mistakes it took to be where I am today and I’m proud of it. I wrote my story and ours is ending,” Benzema wrote on Twitter.

Benzema made his international debut in 2007. He played at the European Championship in 2008 and 2012, as well as the 2014 World Cup, but was omitted from the next two major tournament squads over a blackmail scandal.

He was recalled for Euro 2020 last year, where Didier Deschamps’ side suffered an early exit, and helped France win the Nations League in October 2021.

Benzema enjoyed a stellar campaign with Real Madrid last season, scoring 44 goals in 46 games in all competitions as he inspired them to a LaLiga and Champions League double.

Since his return to the international team, Benzema had scored 10 goals in 16 appearances, but was forced to sit out France’s defence of the World Cup, which ended in a 4-2 defeat on penalties to Argentina in Sunday’s final.

Source The Guardian Nigeria

Posted December 20, 2022

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