Overview
- Didier Deschamps will attend a Paris criminal court hearing on Thursday as his defamation complaint against RMC commentator Daniel Riolo goes to trial.
- Deschamps seeks €1 in symbolic damages and wants Riolo to read on air a text acknowledging a conviction.
- Riolo had accused Deschamps on January 4, 2023 of lying about Karim Benzema’s departure from the 2022 World Cup squad, calling it a “grand mensonge.”
- Deschamps’ lawyer says the remarks constituted an attack on his honour and cites the press-law framework that sets limits on defamatory speech.
- Two witnesses who were in Benzema’s hotel room during the exchange—team doctor Frank Le Gall and security officer Mohamed Sanhadji—are expected to testify, while Riolo maintains he acted in good faith and laments the legal route.