Former France coach Aimé Jacquet supports the omission of Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema from their World Cup squad.

Jacquet won the World Cup as Les Bleus coach in 1998.

He told Sport 24: "The absence of Benzema? I understand it. This can easily be explained. The balance of squad life is fundamental.

"For example, I never speak of adding talents but of associating them, which is very different. After, I was touched by the accusations of racism of which Didier (Deschamps) was victim. All my youth I was surrounded by Poles, Hungarians ... When I was in Clairefontaine, I had my little blacks, my little North Africans. Football is a meeting of people with totally different origins and cultures.

"I do not understand that we could do this attack. Especially from the world of football. I find this really unhealthy."