Coach Christophe Galtier and his son have been “in custody at the Nice judicial police since 8:45 a.m. Friday June 30” in the investigation for suspicion of discrimination.
Coach Christophe Galtier, who is preparing to leave PSG, and his son are “in police custody at the Nice judicial police, a new stage in the investigation to determine whether he made discriminatory remarks when he was coaching the OGC Nice team.
Christophe Galtier and his son John Valovic-Galtier, a players’ agent, have been in “police custody since 8:45 a.m.”, Nice public prosecutor Xavier Bonhomme told AFP. Contacted by AFP, Me Olivier Martin, Christophe Galtier’s lawyer, did not respond immediately.
The preliminary investigation was opened in April
A preliminary investigation was opened in mid-April for suspicions of “discrimination based on an alleged race or affiliation to a religion” targeting Christophe Galtier, when he was at the head of the Ligue 1 team, between 2021 and 2022 The affair broke out after the revelation by the independent journalist Romain Molina then the radio RMC of an email, which the AFP could not authenticate, addressed to the management of the Nice club by the former director of football of the Julien Fournier club, with whom Galtier had an execrable relationship.
\ud83d\udde3\ud83d\udcac “I cannot allow my name and my family to be soiled in this way.”
\ud83d\udd34 Christophe Galtier spoke this Friday on the accusations of racism and Islamophobia against him. pic.twitter.com/ZL3pmTGTYh
— RMC Sport (@RMCsport) April 14, 2023
In this e-mail, Fournier reported these remarks attributed to the outgoing PSG coach: “He then replied that I had to take into account the reality of the city and that indeed, we could not have so many blacks and Muslims in the team” and “He told me of his desire to change the team in depth, also specifying that he wanted to limit the number of Muslim players as much as possible”.
Players and leaders heard
“I am deeply shocked by the comments that I am given, relayed by some in an irresponsible way”, reacted Galtier in a press conference after the outbreak of the case. He had filed a complaint on April 21 for death threats and defamation against Julien Fournier and two journalists, said Olivier Martin. Julien Fournier had indicated on May 22 to AFP to have been “heard”.
Several Nice players and leaders such as club president Jean-Pierre Rivère, as well as ex-coach Didier Digard were also questioned by investigators. The public prosecutor of Nice said Friday morning that he would say more “by press release at the end of the day”.
\ud83d\udde3 Gouiri’s evasive response to accusations of racism against Galtier during his time in Nice: “I am concentrating on the Nice match. I will not answer your question. (…) As coach Digard said, the truth will come out. So you will see for yourself.” pic.twitter.com/5b0c8huqxM
— RMC Sport (@RMCsport) May 4, 2023
At 56, Galtier was informed in early June that he would not be doing a second year of contract at PSG, despite winning the eleventh French championship title. Former defender in particular of Olympique de Marseille where he was born and trained, Galtier, after training Saint-Etienne, experienced success in Lille which he led to the title of champion of France in 2021. The following season , he led OGC Nice to a Coupe de France final before joining the capital club in July 2022, where he succeeded Argentinian Mauricio Pochettino.
