Journalist Daniel Riolo was acquitted in a defamation case against the coach of the French national team, Didier Deschamps, on Friday before the 17th chamber of the Paris criminal court.

The remarks that "DD" criticized the RMC presenter for, "while pejorative and therefore able to legitimately offend the plaintiff, cannot be considered defamatory," according to the judgment.

The coach of the French national team is ordered to pay 254 euros in legal costs.

Neither Riolo's nor Deschamps' lawyers commented on the verdict after the hearing.

DD was suing the journalist for "defamation" and "damage to his reputation." The RMC radio host had called him a "liar" on air regarding Karim Benzema's injury, which led to his last-minute withdrawal from the 2022 World Cup.

Between January and March 2023, during the show "L'After Foot", a daily talk show broadcast on RMC, the journalist accused Deschamps of having "concealed the truth about Karim Benzema's departure" during the 2022 World Cup, in which the striker, who was playing for Real Madrid at the time, ultimately did not participate due to an injury.

In other incriminating remarks, Daniel Riolo had accused the coach of the French national team of appearing "in all the shady affairs of French football", citing in particular the VA-OM corruption case, in reference to the D1 match which gave rise to cases of corruption in May 1993 - Deschamps was playing in Marseille at the time - or doping cases at Juventus Turin, where he played as a player and then as a coach.

On this issue, "the statement does not attribute sufficiently precise facts to Didier Deschamps", the judgment states.

The coach's defense team had not specified by early Friday afternoon whether he wished to appeal.