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Paris - French Davis Cup captain Yannick Noah left Gael Monfils out of his team on Tuesday then drew a parallel between the French number one and scandal-tainted footballer Karim Benzema.
"Benzema also is out of the national side," said Noah, justifying his decision to sideline Monfils for the February 3-5 tie against Japan in Tokyo.
Real Madrid striker Benzema has been excluded from the French football team following his implication in a sex-tape and blackmail case which is before the French courts.
There was no suggestion of impropriety on the part of Monfils, but the player is known to have upset Noah because of alleged lack of commitment to representing his country.
Noah complained that last year Monfils, enjoying his best season, barely showed up for the national side in the Davis Cup.
"In the quarters he didn't even play but won a tournament the following week while for the semis he didn't play because he was in the US Open semis the week before and couldn't play the week after," said Noah, who named Richard Gasquet, Gilles Simon, Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut to face Japan.
