Football: outgoing PSG coach Galtier in custody
French coach Christophe Galtier, who is about to leave PSG, and his son have been “in the custody of the judicial police in Nice since 8.45 today” as part of an investigation into suspicions of discrimination. The prosecutor of Nice, Xavier Bonhomme, told AFP.
In mid-April, a preliminary investigation into the suspicions of “discrimination by race or religious affiliation”, after the accusations against Galtier, former coach of Nice, a team that plays in Ligue 1.
Christophe Galtier, outgoing PSG coach, in a state of “detention” with his son, is accused of making discriminatory, racist and Islamophobic comments when he was at the helm of Nice in the 2021-2022 season. In an e-mail to the club management, revealed by the freelance reporter Romain Molina and by the radio station Rmc, the former manager of Nice, Julien Fournier – with whom Galtier had a conflictual relationship – reported considerations attributed to the coach of the Parisians: considerations referring, among other things, to an alleged excessive number of “blacks and Muslims” in the team, a number that would have been better limited. “I am deeply shocked by things said about me and spread by some people in an irresponsible way,” Galtier defended himself at a press conference after the story emerged in mid-April.
His lawyer, Olivier Martin, announced in this regard that he had filed a complaint against Fournier himself and two journalists for threats and defamation. As part of the investigation, Fournier admitted he was “overheard” on May 22, refusing to say more. Several Nice players and officials, including club president Jean-Pierre Rivère and former manager Didier Digard, were also allegedly questioned by the investigators. Further details on the case should be disclosed by the Nice prosecutor in a press release expected by the end of the day.
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