Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) coach Christophe Galtier announced on Wednesday April 12 that he “contested with the greatest firmness” having made discriminatory remarks against his players when he coached OGC Nice . In a letter communicated by his lawyer, Me Olivier Martin, the 56-year-old technician, who moved from the Côte d’Azur to the capital last summer, expresses “having learned with amazement of the insulting and defamatory remarks” reported by the former Nice leader Julien Fournier in an internal letter relayed Tuesday by several media, and announced “legal proceedings”.
On Tuesday, independent journalist Romain Molina then RMC Sports reported on an email sent at the end of last season by Julien Fournier to Dave Brailsford, Sport Director of Ineos, the petrochemical conglomerate at the head of the Riviera club. In this letter, which Le Monde was not able to authenticate, the one who was then director of football for the Aiglons would report discriminatory remarks by Christophe Galtier towards some of the Nice players.
The enmity between the two men dates back to their common period in Nice, which began under the best auspices. Freshly crowned champion of France with Lille, Christophe Galtier was attracted to the Côte d’Azur by the ambitious Ineos project, and its director of football in the summer of 2021. But a season later, barely, punctuated by a fifth place synonymous with European qualification and a lost final in the Coupe de France, the Marseille technician joined Paris Saint-Germain. In the cold with Julien Fournier, who had left Nice at the start of the summer.
Galtier and his family placed under protection by PSG
“Very honestly, if I explain the real reasons why we had a fight, because that’s really the word, Christophe will no longer enter a locker room, neither in France nor in Europe”, hinted the former leader at the end of September, on RMC. “Form-wise, I’m not surprised knowing the character. That’s what I have to say, “replied the PSG coach. At the time, the daily L’Equipe had chronicled the break between the two men, ensuring that Christophe Galtier would have privately regretted the sociology of his locker room, being moved by the management of the club in the summer of 2021.
The letter discussed on Tuesday is said to be a continuation of this case. If he does not seem to dispute its existence, Julien Fournier assured, Wednesday, not to be involved in its dissemination. “I am currently in Brazil, far from this controversy in which I am associated at my expense. I am in no way responsible for the dissemination of this year-old internal information at the time of my departure from the club, ”explained the former manager in a press release.
“The timing of these revelations revolts me as much as their content”, specifies the one who was general manager then director of football of Nice. Last French club in the running in the European Cup, OGC Nice faces FC Basel, Thursday, April 13, in the quarter-final first leg of the Europa League Conference. And last weekend, Paris Saint-Germain won in Nice (2-0), in a meeting marked by insults from the Nice kop against the former coach – who had reacted strongly, taking apart from the supporters and some of the Nice players.
In difficulty at PSG, especially since the elimination of the capital club in the knockout stages of the Champions League against Bayern Munich, Christophe Galtier announced “to initiate, without delay, the necessary legal proceedings which are necessary (…) given the seriousness of the charges against [him]”. According to information from Le Monde, the French technician and his family have been placed under protection by PSG; the accusations of racism against him having provoked an avalanche of “threats and acts of harassment”, according to his lawyer.
Neither OGC Nice nor Paris Saint-Germain wanted to communicate immediately. But the PSG remains attentive to this affair, which has been buzzing since the fall and does not concern it directly – the facts mentioned being prior to the arrival of Galtier in Paris. Anxious not to rush or give in to panic, the club has, contrary to what has been announced by various media, not launched an internal investigation following Tuesday’s revelations. The fact remains that three days before receiving RC Lens, in a match at the top of Ligue 1 which could determine the 2022-2023 French champion, PSG would have done well without this new crisis off the pitch, which punctuates a season. black, in spite of a chair of leader of the championship of France always occupied.
