Paris Saint-Germain coach Christophe Galtier denied making discriminatory statements towards players when he was coach of Nice last season, his lawyer told AFP on Wednesday.
Olivier Martin said that Galtier, 56, who signed with the Parisian club last year, was “surprised to hear the insulting and defamatory statements” that appeared in an internal mail sent by a former Nice official and reported by French media earlier this week.
Reports revealed that former Nice sporting director Julien Fournier sent an email at the end of last season claiming that Galtier had made discriminatory remarks towards a section of the Nice team. Fournier reportedly sent the letter, which AFP has not been able to verify, to Dave Brailsford, sports director of Nice’s owner petrochemical group Ineos.
“Given the seriousness of the accusations against him, which he vehemently denies, Christophe Galtier has asked his lawyer to start without delay the judicial procedures that are absolutely necessary given that, since this came to light, he has become the target of intolerable threats and harassment,” the French coach’s lawyer said in a statement.
In the same context, Nice issued a statement saying, “This concerns two people who no longer work in Nice. This situation was dealt with very seriously at the time. The club will not make any further comment.” For his part, Saint-Germain did not immediately respond when asked for comment.
Galtier is under pressure with the Qatari-owned capital club, due to the decline in results, as it was eliminated from the European Champions League competition by Bayern Munich in the final price last month. It also suffered two successive losses at home in the league, before it rose up with a 2-0 victory over Nice in the last stage, moving away by 6 points from Lens, who will be its guest at the “Parc des Princes” stadium on Saturday in the 31st stage competition.
