Christophe Galtier, tried this Friday, December 15 for harassment and discrimination, mainly against Muslim players, when he was coach of OGC Nice, denounced on Friday a lack of impartiality in an investigation based on “false or distorted” remarks. “.
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The 57-year-old coach, who returned briefly from Qatar where he is continuing his career, appeared, face closed, tanned and slightly thin, before the Nice criminal court. Now at the head of the Al-Duhail team, the former Paris SG coach who passed through Nice during the 2021-22 season is appearing for acts of moral harassment and discrimination, offenses punishable by three years in prison and 45,000 euros fine.
All morning, he remained standing at the bar, listening without flinching to a tedious reading of the salient elements of the minutes of around thirty hearings conducted in the spring, none of the other actors in this case having made the trip to bear witness.
The affair began with the revelation by journalists of an email written in May 2022 by Julien Fournier, then general director of the club, to the attention of shareholder Ineos, accusing Galtier of “unacceptable comments”.
In this email, long passages of which were read at the hearing, Fournier reported in particular an exchange from August 2021, where Galtier allegedly told him, after being attacked by people from Nice the day before at the restaurant, that the team had “too many blacks and Muslims”.
Bad relationships
On the stand, the coach recounted having actually been arrested at the restaurant with “ racist remarks » that he had « never heard in Saint-Etienne or Lille », his previous clubs, and having informed it the next day to several long-time members of the Nice staff, including Fournier, who did not seem as surprised as he was.
Likewise, Fournier’s email evokes exchanges on the occasion of Ramadan, the month of fasting for Muslims, in April 2022, where Galtier would have repeatedly complained of having ” too many Muslim players » and reportedly requested the transfer of many of them.
Quoted by the defense, Dr. Hakim Chalabi, a very high-level sports specialist and medical director of PSG, explained that Ramadan caused a 30% drop in physiological performance and the risk of injury if it was poorly managed.
“ It is a spiritual fast. It can make athletes feel better. But physiologically and statistically, there are increased risks “, he explained, referring in particular to the lack of sleep of the players who have to go to bed late and get up early to eat and drink.
In the hearing minutes, many club and Ineos officials assured that they had never received any other feedback of this type on Galtier’s behavior. Several instead insisted on the execrable relations which were established over the season between Fournier and Galtier, in particular after the winter transfer window, where the coach hoped for a much more ambitious recruitment. And on the fact that in May 2022, Galtier was in discussions to join PSG while Fournier had just learned that the club was going to part ways with him.
” King Kong “
Some close to Fournier reported a series of contentious comments, some of which the coach strongly contested, others believing that they had been distorted or misunderstood.
Thus, he described two opposing black defenders in front of his players as “King Kong”: but “ for me, King Kong is strength and power, there is no concept of race », Explained Galtier, ensuring that he had used the same word a few weeks later to talk about Nantes defender Nicolas Pallois.
Before examining the case on the merits, Galtier’s lawyers raised an exception for nullity, which was attached to the merits, ensuring that the investigators had only heard the players designated by Fournier, without organizing a confrontation between Galtier and Fournier or hear the Brazilian captain of OGC Nice, Dante.
“ In cases of discrimination, where we are dealing with behavior marked by discretion, which can be sneaky, we will hear from people likely to have been discriminated against. », replied the public prosecutor of Nice, Damien Martinelli.
Christophe Galtier, a former defender trained in Marseille, has made a good reputation as a strong coach at Saint-Etienne (2009-2017) and Lille, French champion in 2021.
The rest was more mixed, both at Nice and at PSG, where he had a tormented season, despite winning the league title.
(With AFP)