Lyon forward Nabil Fekir has hit back at French president Francois Hollande's claims that footballers should have "gym classes for the brain" and stood up for Karim Benzema.
In a new book entitled "A president shouldn't say that...," it is claimed Hollande suggested the French Football Federation should mentally educate rather than physically train their players, who were transformed overnight from "badly brought up kids to rich stars."
"He thinks what he wants," Fekir said, ahead of Lyon's Ligue 1 game with leaders Nice on Friday. "There are stupid people and intelligent people in every field, but if he thinks footballers are idiots, then he doesn't know enough footballers."
Currently embroiled in the investigation into alleged extortion of France teammate Mathieu Valbuena, Benzema was also previously involved in a probe into underage prostitution, a case in which he was acquitted, in 2014.
The Real Madrid forward's ongoing off-the-pitch problems led to him missing Euro 2016, and reportedly prompted Hollande to state, "Morally, he's not an example, Benzema."
Fekir, who, like Benzema, was born in Lyon, said he had an entirely different image of his international colleague.
"He's there for a lot of youngsters. He's done everything in football. He perhaps has made an error, but he inspired me. And when I was with him with France, he spoke to me and helped me a lot," Fekir, who won the first of his six senior caps in March 2015, said.
"So, I would say to the president not to make sweeping judgements and tar everyone with the same brush."