Breaking News: Ribery and Benzema Indicted for “Soliciting Underage Prostitutes”

how underage is 'underage' ?

She was 17 at the time apparently.

Well, I think she was 16 when she met Benzema and 17 when she met Ribery. But, to avoid the moral judgements- Im just angry that they've both seriously jeopardized their careers by placing themselves in a situation where this could happen. They could be ineligible to play for years (if imprisoned)- what idiots.

Very true, at least we know that France can do without them! I like Malouda on the left better anyways…… and a replacement for Benzema? Shouldn't be to hard to find, our young players are having no trouble finding the back of the net.

If imprisoned, this will probably end Ribery's career. This could help Benzema reevaluate everything and make him a stronger player.

I can not wait for France-Austria U19 tomorrow!

I guess we will have to rely on Gignac, Cisse, Gomis, Briand, Hoarau, till the younger generation develops. Which isn't that bad.

Ribery's loss isn't that great. France isn't short on wingers.

This is one more confirmation of their dumbness. Retrospectively we understand why Ribery acted so bad (on and off the field) during the World Cup with such a sword above his head (as we say in French)
This makes the situation even more tricky for Laurent Blanc, who's about to give a list of players for the friendly game against Norway. After Escalettes' sudden decision to call for a public investigation, I don't know what he'll do. Will he leave out the 23 who were on the bus as France Football suggested ? Surprise surprise, but the context is really hard for him

Have to agree with you. Guess I was just too blase about this, but when this story first came out I just couldn't get morally outraged about a 27 yr old married man having consensual sex with a 17 yr old. It's not that I think it's smart or “good” that Ribery cheats on his wife with a girl under the age of 18, I just thought it made him a typical privileged thoughtless scumbag celebrity, and I do not see the girl as a victim (and I'm not trashing her at all, I have no time for anyone who attacks her). There are too many truly horrible instances of celebrity (or non-celebrity) sexual misconduct/paedophilia/rape that make this pale in comparison. However, I soon realized that for someone with such a high profile as these 2 to even flirt with the possibility of statutory rape with an underage girl is just boneheaded, self-indulgent stupidity and they deserve any punishment French courts give them.

At this very moment the “Conseil fédéral” (federal board) of the FFF is meeting and (hopefully) will make a lot of decisions :

- Unless ther's a big earthquake (or the end of the world) Fernand Duchaussoy will succeed Escalette as FFF's president by interim until (at least) december. He'll have to lead the reform and renovation of the FFF (especially the governance)

- They will have to deal with the Domenech issue. They probably won't tell anything to the press about it (it is a very touchy subject because Domenech can suit them if they don't follow the law). The question is : how will they fire him and on which grounds ? You know how hard it is to fire somebody here in France (and sometimes it's a good thing)

- They'll have to deal with the penalties issues after the bus episode. Will Blanc leave out all 23 players for the friendly against Norway or will he let the FFF punish them ?

-And last, about Ribéry and Benzema, Duchaussoy said he doesn't want any indicted players with the blue jersey. But some people are reluctant to leave them untill they're not proven guilty.

-

good

Their dumbness is going to create several BIG problems…. undoubtedly they were good players. now that they are gone the upcoming Euro 2012 is going to be tough for them since the other European teams like Spain, Germany are quite advanced and other teams like England,Italy and even Sweden are reforming rapidly.