Football: at his trial, Christophe Galtier firmly denies any discrimination

Christophe Galtier, on trial on Friday 15 December 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" statements.

Christophe Galtier at the entrance to the Nice courthouse. December 15, 2023. AFP - VALERY HACHE

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The 57-year-old coach, who briefly returned from Qatar where he is pursuing his career, appeared, face closed, tanned and slightly emaciated, before the criminal court of Nice. Now at the head of the Al-Duhail team, the former Paris SG coach who played for Nice during the 2021-22 season is on trial for acts of moral harassment and discrimination, offences punishable by three years in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros.

All morning, he remained on the stand, listening without flinching to a tedious reading of the salient elements of the minutes of some thirty hearings conducted in the spring, none of the other actors in this case having made the trip to testify.

The affair began with the revelation by journalists of an email written in May 2022 by Julien Fournier, then the club's chief executive, to the attention of shareholder Ineos, accusing Galtier of "unacceptable remarks".

In this email, long passages of which were read out at the hearing, Fournier reported in particular an exchange from August 2021, where Galtier allegedly told him, after being taken to task by Nice residents the day before at the restaurant, that the team had "too many blacks and Muslims".

Awful relationships

On the stand, the coach said that he had indeed been arrested at the restaurant with "racist remarks" that he had "never heard at Saint-Etienne or Lille", his previous clubs, and that he had shared it the next day with several long-time members of the Nice staff, including Fournier, who had not seemed as surprised as he was.

Similarly, Fournier's email refers to exchanges on the occasion of Ramadan, the month of fasting for Muslims, in April 2022, when Galtier repeatedly complained about having "too many Muslim players" and asked for the transfer of many of them.

Quoted by the defence, Dr Hakim Chalabi, a specialist in high-level sport and PSG's medical director, explained that Ramadan caused a 30% drop in physiological performance and the risk of injury if it was poorly managed.

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It is a spiritual fast. It can make athletes feel like they're better. But physiologically and statistically, there are increased risks," he explained, referring in particular to the lack of sleep of players who have to go to bed late and get up early to eat and drink.

In the minutes of the hearings, many club and Ineos officials said they had never had any other feedback of this type on Galtier's behaviour. Many have instead insisted on the execrable relationship that has developed over the course of the season between Fournier and Galtier, especially after the winter transfer window, when the coach hoped for a much more ambitious recruitment. And on the fact that in May 2022, Galtier was in talks to join PSG while Fournier had just learned that the club was going to part ways with him.

"King Kong"

Some of Fournier's relatives reported a series of contentious remarks that the coach strongly disputed for some, believing that they had been distorted or misunderstood for others.

Thus, he did describe two opposing black defenders in front of his players as "King Kong": but "for me, King Kong is strength and power, there is no notion of race", explained Galtier, assuring that he had used the same word a few weeks later to talk about the Nantes defender Nicolas Pallois.

Before examining the merits of the case, Galtier's lawyers raised an objection for nullity, which was attached to the merits, assuring that the investigators had only heard the players designated by Fournier, without organising a confrontation between Galtier and Fournier or hearing the Brazilian captain of OGC Nice, Dante.

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In cases of discrimination, where we are dealing with discreet behaviour, which can be underhanded, we will hear from people who may 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 coach with a grip at Saint-Etienne (2009-2017) and Lille, champion of France 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

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