"I am deeply shocked by the comments attributed to me and which have been relayed by some in an irresponsible way, which hurt me in the depths of my humanity," said the coach.
"The club supports Christophe Galtier and wants the truth to be established by justice," explained the club's press officer just before Galtier's speech.
In an email sent at the end of last season to the management of the Nice club and revealed Tuesday by the independent journalist Romain Molina and then by RMC, that AFP could not authenticate, the former director of OGC Nice Julien Fournier reported these remarks attributed to Christophe Galtier: "+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 by also specifying that he wanted to limit as much as possible the number of Muslim players +".
A preliminary investigation by the Nice prosecutor's office was opened for suspicions of "discrimination based on alleged race or membership of a religion".
© Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP
"I am a child of housing estates raised in diversity, raised in respect for others regardless of their origin, color, religion, continued Christophe Galtier. My whole life as a man has been dictated by the concern for sharing and living well with others, I cannot accept that my name and my family are sullied in this way".
PSG play an important match in their title race on Saturday against Lens, their six-point runner-up. This new extra-sporting affair comes in full preparation for this meeting.
"I haven't spoken with my players about this but they gave me the best answer with the total investment in the training sessions," Galtier said.
"It's been difficult, very hard, of course," he added. I took refuge in work. Telling you it's nice, no. But the moments spent with the players allowed me to evacuate and forget everything that was said."
© 2023 AFP