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Accused of racist remarks, former international Bernard Casoni was fired this Monday, November 6 from his position as coach of the US Orléans club, resident of National.
“US Orléans informs of the early termination of Bernard Casoni’s employment contract,” the club wrote in a press release posted on its website this Monday, November 6. News which ends a month of turmoil during which the Orléans football club (USO) was shaken by accusations of racism targeting the now ex-coach. Targeted by a preliminary investigation for provoking hatred or racial discrimination and for public insults of a racist nature opened by the Orléans public prosecutor’s office, technician Bernard Casoni was suspended by his club on October 10.
The facts date back to September 21, on the eve of a match against Châteauroux. At a press conference, the coach then delivered an outing that was problematic to say the least. “They [les joueurs, ndlr] have things they excel at. But there are things where it’s not enough. This is where you have to be more efficient, where you have to erase that. My role is to tell them, show them and help them solve problems. That’s it that’s all. I did it in all the clubs I went to, I did it with North Africans! They are no more stupid than North Africans, eh… I mean, that’s the role of a coach.”
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— US Orléans (@US_Orleans) November 6, 2023
The former international presented his apologies two days later on France Bleu Orléans, arguing that he was “anything but racist” but admitting to having made “inappropriate comments”.
“No need for pinafores for them, they are already black”
According to France Bleu, this is not the first time that Bernard Casoni has used the phrase “You are no more stupid than North Africans.” It would even be customary to do so. Several players assured that Casoni used it regularly. “We hear this phrase about North Africans every two weeks in training,” a player told the radio at the beginning of October. Another reports another scene: “We were doing an exercise where two teams compete in five against five. My team consisted entirely of players of color. There, the coach says: “No need for bibs for them, they are already black.” Supposedly in a humorous tone. It shocked me.”
As a player, Casoni won the Champions League with Marseille in 1993 and was selected 30 times for the French football team. Converted into a coach, notably at Olympique de Marseille, he also brought Evian Thonon Gaillard up from National to Ligue 2, then from Ligue 2 to Ligue 1 between 2010 and 2012. Now aged 62, he trained several seasons in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia as well as in France in Bastia, Auxerre and Lorient in particular. “Humanly, for me, it’s something difficult, because I think […] that he experiences it very, very badly, because, fundamentally, he is someone […] which is not at all what we might have felt through the awkwardness of his words. Humanly, it’s regrettable,” explained club president Philippe Boutron when announcing Casoni’s successor, the former coach of Bourg-en-Bresse and Saint-Brieux, 49-year-old Karim Mokeddem.
