PSG manager Christophe Galtier arrested in racism probe

“He told me he wanted to profoundly change the team’s make-up and limit the maximum number of Muslims.”

Wale Agbede • June 30, 2023

Christophe Galtier

Christophe Galtier, the coach of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), and his son have been held for interrogation as part of an investigation into alleged prejudice.

The move follows an April inquiry after allegations that he made racist and Islamophobic statements against players while coaching OGC Nice in the 2021-22 season.

Galtier is poised to be fired by PSG following a mainly disappointing season in which the squad suffered 10 defeats and was eliminated from the Champions League in the last-16.

The allegations of prejudice surfaced in April after news outlets cited a leaked email from Nice’s former director of football, Julien Fournier, in which he accused Galtier of claiming there were “too many Black and Muslim players” on the Nice squad.

“He told me that I should take account of the reality of the city and that in effect we should not have as many blacks and Muslims in the team,” claimed Fournier, whose relationship with Galtier was a fraught one.

“He told me he wanted to profoundly change the team’s make-up and limit the maximum number of Muslims.”

Galtier and Fournier both left Nice last year after only one season together, with the former being hired by PSG.

A PSG representative told Al Jazeera in April that the club was not looking into the allegations.

“The manager informed the club about the allegations and that he is taking legal action, and since this is a legal case now, we will not comment on it,” the club’s official said, adding that PSG has a “very strong stance against racism”.

In a statement released by his lawyer to French media, Galtier said in April that he was “stunned to learn of the insulting and defamatory” allegation.

“Given the seriousness of the accusations against him, and which he firmly denies, Christophe Galtier has asked his lawyer to begin without delay the judicial proceedings, which are all the more necessary given that, since this came out, he has been the target of intolerable threats and harassment,” the statement said.

He filed his own defamation suit against Fournier and the journalist who reported the allegations.

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