This Friday, the Nice prosecutor’s office announced the opening of an investigation for “discrimination” in the Galtier case. The headquarters of the OGC Nice club was also searched this Friday morning. For several days, Christophe Galtier, coach of Paris Saint-Germain, has been the subject of accusations of racist and discriminatory remarks while he was coach of OGC Nice.
On Twitter, the Nice prosecutor Xavier Bonhomme confirmed “the existence of a preliminary investigation entrusted on the initiative yesterday, April 13, to the Nice PJ on the grounds of discrimination based on an alleged race or belonging to a religion. Searches are underway within the premises of OGC Nice”, he writes, confirming initial information from nice morning.
I confirm the existence of a preliminary investigation entrusted on the initiative yesterday, April 13, to the Nice PJ on the grounds of discrimination based on an alleged race or belonging to a religion. Searches are underway within the premises of OGC Nice @Nice morning
— Xavier Bonhomme – Nice Prosecutor (@XavierBonhomme1) April 14, 2023
Christophe Galtier has been facing a growing controversy since Tuesday evening and the publication, by the independent journalist Romain Molina then the media RMC Sports, of an email attributed to the former director of OGC Nice, Julien Fournier, who reports remarks considered discriminatory of Galtier about part of the Nice locker room.
In this exchange, Julien Fournier reports in particular these remarks attributed to Christophe Galtier: “He then replied 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 and he told me of his desire to change the team in depth, also specifying that he wanted to limit the number of Muslim players as much as possible”.
This message, which AFP could not authenticate, was sent at the end of last season to Dave Brailsford, Sport Director at Ineos, the petrochemical group that owns the Nice club, to denounce racist and Islamophobic statements in as part of membership building or group management.
On Wednesday, Paris SG coach Christophe Galtier “challenged with the greatest firmness” having made discriminatory remarks about players when he officiated in Nice, his lawyer said in a statement sent to AFP. Christophe Galtier, current coach of Paris SG, was present Friday morning in training at Camp des Loges, his face closed, according to an AFP journalist. He must speak at the beginning of the afternoon during a press conference.