In an email sent at the end of last season to the management of the Nice club and revealed on Tuesday by the independent journalist Romain Molina then by RMC, which AFP could not authenticate, the former director of OGC Nice Julien Fournier notably reported 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 so 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”. Christophe Galtier, through his lawyer, firmly disputed the facts.
‘No racism’
“This story seems very strange to me in terms of substance, form and timing,” reacted Jorge Maciel, who was Galtier’s assistant in Lille for almost three seasons. “I know Christophe very well and it seems very strange to me. I never felt any discrimination or difference in the way players were treated,” he said. “We were champions with players from all walks of life, there were more than fifteen different nationalities and religions, even the staff was international,” he continued.
Galtier also received support from former players on Thursday, with the exception of Nice players who have remained silent since the start of this affair. “I worked four, five years with him, whether in Sochaux or Saint-Etienne. I did not feel any racism on his part, ”told the newspaper L’Équipe the Franco-Turkish Mevlut Erding. “I myself was doing Ramadan when I was under his orders and I can tell you that he left us the choice, he respected it. There really was no racism,” he added.
Same tone on the side of José Fonte, the Lille captain whom Galtier coached during his time at Losc: “In three years of work, he has always been close to his players and, above all, very respectful”, a- he explained on Instagram.
Leaders and coaches of L1 defended him on Thursday, like his Lensois counterparts Franck Haise and Rennes Bruno Genesio, the president of OL, Jean-Michel Aulas, or Roland Romeyer, the president of the management board of the AS Saint-Etienne, of which Galtier was the coach for seven and a half seasons (December 2009-June 2017).
