The Paris Court of Appeal has announced that the trial of journalist Daniel Riolo will take place on January 13, 2027.
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The roots of the dispute go back to the 2022 World Cup, when former French national team coach Didier Deschamps announced that Benzema would be excluded from the tournament due to a torn left thigh muscle.
But Riolo questioned the French coach's account, calling him a "liar" and accusing him of using the injury as a pretext to keep the Real Madrid striker out of the national team.
The journalist also linked Deschamps' name to "suspicious" cases in football, including the Valenciennes-Olympique Marseille affair, known as (VA-OM), and the doping case linked to Juventus.
Deschamps filed a defamation complaint against Riolo, which led both parties to trial in November 2025.
The session witnessed a heated confrontation, as Deschamps summoned the French national team's doctor, Frank Le Gall, and the team's security officer, Mohamed Senhadji, to give their testimonies.
In January 2026, the court acquitted Riolo, ruling that his statements, although "disparaging of Deschamps," did not amount to defamation.
The judge noted that the journalist wanted to tarnish the image of the French coach, but did not consider that his statements met the legal requirements necessary to convict him of defamation.
Deschamps was not convinced by the ruling and decided to appeal it on the same day, asserting during the trial that he could not ignore statements that affected his honor and reputation.
The former France coach told the court: "I had no other choice. It was impossible for me to let these statements, which impugn my honor, go unchallenged. He is attacking the person I am."
The appeal hearing is set to give Deschamps a new opportunity to continue his legal battle against Riolo, in a case that began over a dispute about Benzema's injury before the Qatar World Cup, and turned into a legal dispute over the limits of media criticism and accusations against the coach.
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