French Football Federation president Noel Le Graet has said he hopes Karim Benzema will play for France again after Euro 2016.
Earlier this week, Le Graet and France coach Didier Deschamps decided the Real Madrid striker would not be selected for the tournament in the aftermath of the Mathieu Valbuena case.
Benzema, 28, was charged with conspiracy to blackmail as part of an investigation into an alleged attempt to extort money from his France teammate using a sex tape.
Le Graet said on Thursday that he and Deschamps had decided not to risk disrupting squad harmony by recalling Benzema.
But he later told RMC that he hoped the forward would be back for France's 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign.
"He's a likeable guy," Le Graet said. "I'm sorry that he was caught up in such a stupid affair.
"I hope his case will be dismissed and that he'll perform well in the last matches of the season in the league and the Champions League.
"And then there is the World Cup soon. We'll see him in a blue shirt again -- at least, I hope so."
Le Graet said he felt he had taken "the least bad" decision for the national team as opposed to the best one, but backed the squad to cope without Benzema at the Euros.
"Look at the young players who are starting to perform extremely well for the best European clubs," Le Graet said.
"The quality is there. We have plenty of players... it's Didier's job to have 23 players who complement each other."