Court clears French football boss Galtier of racial and religious bias

Veteran coach Christophe Galtier was back in Qatar on Friday with his reputation restored after a French court rejected charges that he had discriminated against black players and psychologically harassed Muslim players while coaching the Ligue 1 outfit Nice.

Christophe Galtier, who has coached clubs including Saint-Etienne, Lille, Nice and Paris Saint-Germain since 2009, was acquitted of racist behaviour during his time as boss at Nice. © AFP / VALERY HACHE

Galtier, 57, who started his managerial career at Saint-Etienne in 2009, was in charge of Nice between the summers of 2021 and 2022.

He left for the south coast following a successful four-year spell in Lille which culminated with the 2021 Ligue 1 title.

Bosses at Paris Saint-Germain brought him to the capital in July 2022 after firing Mauricio Pochettino in the hope that he would fashion talents such as Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappé into a unit that could win the Champions League.

Galtier, like myriad PSG predecessors, failed with that side of the bargain. But as his side sauntered to the Ligue 1 title last May, allegations of racial and religious bias from his time on the French riviera surfaced.

French media published reports quoting a leaked email from the former Nice director of football Julien Fournier to the club's owners.

It accused Galtier of saying there were too many black and Muslim players in the squad. Galtier also allegedly said Muslim players should break their fast during Ramadan.

Claims

The allegations led to a preliminary investigation led by the Nice prosecutor Xavier Bonhomme into "discrimination on the grounds of alleged race or religion" and searches of the Nice headquarters.

Galtier, who now coaches Al-Duhail in the Qatar Stars League, denied both charges. He told Nice criminal court that some of his comments made during his stint at Nice had been taken out of context or distorted and used against him by other coaching staff members.

Fournier allegedly said that Galtier specifically complained in August 2021 that Nice had too many black and Muslim players and that it did not reflect the ethnological profile of the city.

Galtier said those comments were not made by him but actually addressed to him by three people in a restaurant in Nice in August 2021.

Galtier added that he then informed Fournier and assistant coach Frédéric Gioria about the incident.

Galtier also denied an allegation made by Gioria that he used a derogatory term to describe Algerian players Hicham Boudaoui and Youcef Atal.

He also rejected the claim that he had dropped Algerian forward Billal Brahimi from his squad because he was fasting during Ramadan.

Galtier pointed out that he had not selected Brahimi in the previous match, either, which was not held during Ramadan.

Galtier added that Fournier had falsely informed defender Jean-Clair Todibo — who is Muslim — that Galtier made an insulting comment about Todibo in his office.

'Redemption'

"We see the decision as an acquittal but also as a redemption for Christophe, his loved ones and his family," Galtier's lawyer Olivier Martin said following the verdict.

"We managed to prove the manipulation that was in place and the instrumentalisation that was created out of certain situations and comments," Martin added.

"Justice isn't reached in late-night talk shows or on YouTube by incompetent pseudo-journalists."

In pressing the accusations, prosecutors had requested a one-year suspended prison sentence and a €45,000 fine for the Frenchman.

During the investigation Galtier had garnered public support from a range of other coaches, including the former Nantes, Lens and PSG coach Antoine Kombouaré, who is black.

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