PSG coach charged with racism

Christophe Galtier, who still formally remains the coach of PSG, was at the center of a high-profile scandal that erupted in France. He was detained on charges related to discrimination on racial and religious grounds, as well as related to the period of his work at Nice before moving to Paris. Problems Galtier, who faces up to three years in prison, has created the publication of the e-mails of former club director Julien Fournier. In it, Fournier claimed that the coach insisted on limiting the number of black players and Muslims in the team.

The main sports news of the leading French media resources on Friday was the statement by the prosecutor of Nice, Xavier Bonhomme, about the detention of coach Christophe Galtier and his son John Valovich-Galtier, who is engaged in agency activities. They are suspected of “discrimination on racial and religious grounds.” In French criminal law, it is considered a serious crime: for its commission, one faces up to three years in prison.

Suspicions relate to the season before last, that is, the one that preceded the unexpected career leap never worked in the top clubs, 56-year-old Christophe Galtier. After successes in Lille, which became the French champion with Galtier in 2021, and Nice, which reached the final of the National Cup with him in 2022, the flagship of French football drew attention to the coach. True, all French publications in June confirmed that PSG, which won another national championship gold in the spring, but again failed in the Champions League and played indistinctly in the second half of the season, firmly decided to part with Christophe Galtier. It is already known who will replace him: this is the former Spain coach Luis Enrique. It is believed that the resignation of Galtier has not yet been announced only because the club settles difficult issues with a penalty.

So, before joining PSG, Christophe Galtier headed Nice. And in April of this year, RMC and some other sources published an email correspondence between the former director of this club, Julien Fournier, and representatives of its owner. It is the well-known British chemical company Ineos. The authenticity of the correspondence has not yet been denied. In it, Fournier talked about some of Galtier’s specific requirements. He, according to the functionary, pointed out that the team “cannot have so many blacks and Muslims,” given the “realities” of the city where he is based, and suggested setting restrictions in this sense.

The prosecutor’s office of Nice immediately initiated a preliminary investigation into the high-profile incident, which is associated with an extremely urgent problem for European football. In recent years, cases of racially motivated insults to players have become commonplace in it, and celebrities such as Real Madrid striker Vinicius become their victims. In the spring, due to the cries of fans with racist overtones in his address, the match between Madrid and Valencia was almost disrupted. The International Football Federation (FIFA) constantly calls on the national football authorities to fight this phenomenon as hard as possible. According to L’Equipe, the French investigation has already interviewed Nice president Jean-Pierre Renard, as well as several players.

At the same time, Christophe Galtier flatly rejected all claims. In particular, at a press conference held after the publication of Julien Fournier’s correspondence, he said that he was “deeply shocked” by the statements “attributed” to him. Galtier has already filed a lawsuit against Fournier and the journalists who distributed the correspondence, accusing them of slander. AFP, meanwhile, notes that the French football community is well aware that the director of Nice and her coach had a very strained relationship.

Alexey Dospekhov