Go Leave Al Ittihad, Karim Benzema Delete Instagram Account

Karim Benzema contributed Al Ittihad's winning goal over Auckland City at the 2023 Club World Cup (Instagram @itthadclub.sa).

JAKARTA - Karim Benzema is known to have left his team, Al Ittihad also left Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. This incident was discovered after Al Ittihad lost to Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr team in the Saudi Pro League, last Wednesday, December 27.

Quoted from the US on Sunday, December 31, it was discovered that Benzema was no longer present at the Al Ittihad training session which was held on Friday afternoon local time.

The French player was even said to have given no definite reasons to club management and coach Marcelo Gallardo about his absence and leaving Jeddah.

Apart from leaving without saying goodbye to Jeddah, suspicion also arose because Benzema also deleted his social media account. Benzema has deleted her Instagram since it disappeared from the squad.

Because of his controversial departure, Benzema's name was also not included in the Al Ittihad squad against Al Tai on Saturday, December 30. Al Ittihad then proposed to postpone the match to February 7 due to problems with flights.

Al Ittihad has yet to issue an official statement regarding Benzema's whereabouts. Even coach Marcelo Gallardo also declined to comment.

This situation made Benzema the subject of speculation, he also received criticism from Al Ittihad and local media. The former Real Madrid player was considered unprofessional after slumping with Al Ittihad in his first season.

"He may have had disagreements with the club, but that can't be an excuse, because in fact he doesn't want to try. He threw away a lot of easy chances and seemed to lose his passion for playing football," said Saudi sports journalist Abdel Karim Al Jasser.

Benzema himself first joined Al Ittihad in June 2023, he chose the Saudi Arabian club after not extending his contract with Real Madrid. While at Al Ittihad, Benzema scored 12 goals and five assists from 20 matches.