This case is probably only in its infancy. Christophe Galtier reacted on Wednesday after being accused by former OGC Nice football director Julien Fournier of having made racist and discriminatory remarks. Charges that the Paris Saint-Germain coach “disputes with the greatest firmness” in a statement sent to AFP by his lawyer.
The French technician, who moved from Nice to PSG last summer, “learned with amazement of the insulting and defamatory remarks” reported by Julien Fournier in an internal letter relayed on Tuesday by several media, said Me Olivier Martin, announcing ” legal proceedings” to come.
“Given the seriousness of the charges against him, which he disputes with the greatest firmness, Christophe Galtier immediately contacted his lawyer, Maître Olivier Martin, to initiate, without delay, the necessary legal proceedings which are necessary and this especially since since this disclosure, he has been the subject of intolerable threats and acts of harassment, ”the statement reads.
Julien Fournier denies being at the origin of the leak
Tuesday evening, the independent journalist Romain Molina and RMC Sports revealed the existence of an email, sent by Julien Fournier to the management of OGC Nice last June, in which the former director of football of the Riviera club reported a discussion with Christophe Galtier, then Nice coach, which would have taken place at the start of the 2021-2022 season.
Fournier writes there about Galtier: “He then answered me that yes and that I had to take into account the reality of the city, and that indeed we could not have as many blacks and Muslims in the team. ” A little further in his letter, Julien Fournier clarifies his remarks: “He (Galtier) said to me: yesterday, I went to the restaurant and everyone fell on me saying that we have a team of black. “Christophe Galtier would have added according to him:” Julien, you must realize in which city we are, we are in the city of Jacques Médecin (the former mayor of Nice), and our team does not correspond to what people want, as it does not correspond to me. There was no sporting argument but only religious or skin color arguments. »
Julien Fournier denied this Wednesday to Nice-Matin being at the origin of the email leak without denying its existence. “The timing of these revelations revolts me as much as their content,” said the former general manager then director of football for Nice, on the eve of the quarter-final first leg of the Europa Conference League between the Aiglons and Basel, Thursday in Switzerland.
In a press release released this Wednesday at the end of the day, OGC Nice very briefly returned to this affair. “The facts related concern two people who no longer work for OGC Nice. This situation was treated with the utmost seriousness at the time of the events. The club will not provide more comments, ”we learn.
