Prosecuted for discrimination and harassment, mainly against Muslim footballers, Christophe Galtier, the former coach of Nice, was acquitted on Thursday, December 21, following a trial which turned into a settling of scores.
“Neither of the two offenses is characterized,” clarified the Nice criminal court, in pronouncing its judgment. In his indictment at the hearing, on December 15, the public prosecutor of Nice, Damien Martinelli, had nevertheless delivered a very harsh indictment, demanding a one-year suspended prison sentence and a 45,000 euro fine against the man who was also PSG coach. For the prosecution, Christophe Galtier had “clearly sought to reduce the number of blacks and Muslims in the Nice team”, in particular by “instrumentalizing Ramadan”, against a “background of ordinary racism”.
Fewer “blacks and Muslims” on the team
Returning to Qatar, where his team, Al-Duhail, was to play Thursday afternoon, Christophe Galtier was absent for the judgment. His lawyers welcomed their client’s legal victory: “It is a reaction of relief, because these odious accusations had caused significant damage to his life as a man and his professional career,” declared Me Olivier Martin. “It is a total rehabilitation for him (…) but it is also a satisfaction for the defense, because we were able to deconstruct the offenses unfairly pursued by the prosecution, but also because we were able to demonstrate the manipulation that had been carried out and the exploitation of certain comments, with the avowed aim of harming the man and his professional reputation,” he reacted.
“This decision is a wake-up call, justice is delivered in the courtrooms, in the context of an adversarial debate, not in late-night talk shows or on YouTube by two incompetent pseudojournalists,” added Mr. Martin.
The affair began in April with the revelation by journalists of an inflammatory email from May 2022 from Julien Fournier, then general director of OGC Nice, to the shareholder, the British group Ineos. He accused Christophe Galtier of demanding fewer “blacks and Muslims” in the team and of rebelling against players who refused to suspend Ramadan on match days, as did the Muslim Lille with whom he had been champion from France the previous season.
