French team doctor criticizes Paris team doctor: He is not God, Paris treats Dembele and Douai with double standards

France national team coach Didier Deschamps is suing columnist Daniel Riolo for defamation, and the case has triggered criticism of French national team doctor Frank Le Gall against Paris Saint-Germain medical director Hakeem Chalabi.

In November 2022, Benzema was injured in the last French national team training before the World Cup. The French national team then arranged for Benzema to undergo an MRI scan at the Aspetar Medical Center in Doha, Qatar. French team doctor Frank Le Gall believed that Benzema had a second-grade muscle strain based on the scan results and would definitely not be able to participate in the World Cup. Therefore, Benzema left the French national team at the last minute and missed the World Cup.

Aspetal Medical Center is a very famous sports medicine center. Their director, Hakim Chalabi, is also the medical director of Paris Saint-Germain Club. Column reporter Daniel Riolo said that he had talked with Hakeem Chalabi, and the other party said that Benzema only suffered a first-level muscle strain at the time, not a second-level strain, so he could participate in the World Cup knockout stage. Daniele Riolo accused Deschamps of deliberately excluding him from the World Cup squad due to personal conflicts with Benzema, which made Deschamps very angry and sued Daniele Riolo for defamation.

At the same time, French team doctor Frank Le Gall also expressed dissatisfaction with the remarks of Paris Saint-Germain medical director Hakim Chalabi, believing that his words were questioning his professional ability. "I have the right to no longer trust Hakim Chalabi and Aspetal Medical Center. I feel as if they invented medicine themselves. 50 years ago, Qatar was just a stone. Hakim Chalabi is no longer an authority. He is not God, and neither is Aspetal Medical Center."

Frank Le Gall and Hakim Chalabi had a dispute over Dembélé’s injury in September this year. Frank Le Gall continued: “I received three messages at that time, one of which was from Hakim Chalabi. He always likes to preach to others. We because of some things that don’t exist He was criticized by Paris Saint-Germain for the so-called medical problem. Regarding Dembele, we have no imaging data and no MRI. He is still in the national team, but Paris Saint-Germain announced that he was injured in the left leg and then in the right leg. It was just unlucky."

Frank Le Gall also said in the end: "Paris Saint-Germain had Douai, who had just recovered from injury, play three consecutive games, and he tore a muscle, but we never heard an explanation from the Paris Saint-Germain team doctor after that. The same goes for Dembélé. They have a double standard."