At the end of the short success against Nice (2-1) this Saturday, Christophe Galtier spoke at a press conference, Lionel Messi’s first direct Parisian free kick, or the decisive entry into play of Kylian Mbappé. But, passing in front of the cameras of Prime Video, he returned to the words of the former football director of OGC Nice Julien Fournier, now sports director in Parma, who had been accusatory on RMC towards him, under -hearing that he had been guilty of “serious things”. “Very honestly, if I explain the real reasons why we argued, because that’s really the word, Christophe will no longer enter a locker room, neither in France nor in Europe”, had also launched Fournier.
Initially, Thursday, in a pre-match press conference, Galtier had simply replied by saying: “I am not surprised at the way he expressed himself. When you are a PSG coach, there is great exposure. I don’t want to tire myself out debating everything that’s being said. The function creates debates, one after the other. On the form, I am not surprised by the character”.
Before the meeting between Paris and Nice, Jean-Pierre Rivère, the president of Nice, had clarified the context of this conflict on Canal + Sport 360, referring in particular to the management criticized for the Ramadan period by Christophe Galtier: “There are boys who respect their religion and it happens as it usually happens. It’s a difference of point of view on the management of this problem, that’s all. There is no need to make an event out of it. »
This Saturday evening, therefore, Galtier was more specific about his feelings: “It was a pleasure to find some of the players and managers of Nice who supported me very well in this week which was difficult on a personal level because that I have been attacked in a very unfair and deleterious way, whereas I am an open-minded person and that making these allusions to Ramadan problems which switch to something else is very hard to take. I know everything I can do in terms of discussions with the players when this time comes, about fasting. Automatically I exchange with my players, I share with them, but I have never, ever imposed anything. »
This should put an end to the public controversy but which could have deeply marked the Parisian coach.
