French footballer Karim Benzema is suing the country’s interior minister for defamation after he accused him of having links to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Gérald Darmanin accused the Al-Ittihad player of having “a notorious link" with the Sunni Muslim Islamist group in October.
According to local reports, the footballer has since started defamation proceedings against the politician, saying the claim “undermines” his reputation.
The organisation is banned in several countries.
The spat between the two came after Benzema tweeted his sympathies for Gazan civilians caught up in the conflict, calling Israel’s bombing “unjust”.
The French politician criticised for not tweeting in support of the Israelis killed in the Hamas attack, or the French teacher stabbed to death by an Islamist former pupil earlier this month.
“I publicly called for him to tweet for that teacher who for absolutely nothing, is dead because of Islamist terrorism, and he didn’t do it,” the minister later said on a visit to Abu Dhabi.
Mr Darmanin also referred to Benzema’s “proselytising on social networks”.
In his complaint, Benzema, says he “has never had the slightest link with the Muslim Brotherhood organisation, nor to (his) knowledge with anyone who claims to be a member of it”.
He added: “I am aware of the extent to which, because of my notoriety, I am being used in political games, which are all the more scandalous given that the dramatic events since October 7 deserve something quite different from this type of statement.”
His lawyer Hugues Vigier told French outlet RTL that the footballer is the victim of "political exploitation".
Mr Darmanin has yet to comment on the lawsuit.
The legal complaint has been lodged with the Cour de Justice, the only French court empowered to prosecute members of the government for offences committed while exercising their duties.
