Karim Benzema's Hopes of a France Return Dashed as FFF President Admits it Would Be 'Difficult'

Karim Benzema's hopes of donning the France national shirt again have taken a serious hit after the French Football Federation's president Noel Le Graet insisted it would be 'incontestable' for him to return to the side.

The Real Madrid star has been an outcast on the international stage for over two-years after being accused of allegedly blackmailing his teammate, Mathieu Valbuena, over a sex tape. 

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29-year-old Benzema was thought to have received a timely boost in his pursuit to return to action for France after the Court of Cassation, Spain's court of final appeals - ruled in his favour over the case in July. 

However, Le Graet was quick to rule out Benzema's return ahead of the World Cup as he told RMC, via the Daily Mail: "You would have to be blind or deaf to not understand that Benzema will be difficult to select right now. It seems to be incontestable to me.

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"We must also say that there are a number of talented players in attack, so the problem is perhaps less so than a few years ago. [Didier] Deschamps picked him a lot during years when he was not brilliant in the French team."

Benzema's last appearance for France came in a friendly against Armenia in October 2015, where the striker scored two goals and assisted another in the 4-0 win. 

With the World Cup fast approaching, Le Graet has revealed that he has informed Deschamps about the high expectations which have been set ahead of the tournament in Russia.

He added: "I told Didier and the players that we were in the quarter-finals in Brazil after a complicated period, we were in the final of Euro 2016, we must be in the final four.

"I trust Didier and I'm sure we're going to have a good World Cup and the coach has to have all the power during it."