Digard responds to Galtier racism allegations
Interim head coach for Nice, Didier Digard, said the allegations of racist and anti-Muslim comments by Christophe Galtier will not disrupt the team’s focus.
Current PSG coach and former Nice coach Christophe Galtier was recently accused of making several racist and anti-Muslim comments about players during his time with Nice. The accusations come after a leaked email, written by Nice Sporting Director Julien Fournier, said that Galtier had been complaining about too many Blacks and Muslims on the team. Galtier’s lawyer denied the claims.
Digard responds to Galtier accusations
On Wednesday, two French publications, Nice-Matin and Le Parisien, reported on a tense relationship between Galtier and some of his colleagues, including now interim head coach Didier Digard. According to the reports, Galtier criticized Digard’s religious beliefs so much that he sent in a letter of resignation, but that he ended up staying after the director pleaded for him to not to go.
When asked about the racial accusations, however, Digard did not have much to say except that the team was focused on soccer and did not want to be distracted by this drama.
“The club has released a statement. We won’t add anything more,” said Digard. “There are two opposing versions, the truth will come out.”
The statement that the club released said that the people involved in the accusations no longer work for the club, but that “this situation was treated with the utmost seriousness at the time of the events. The club will not comment further.”
Digard emphasized that he and the he and the team just want to focus on the sport as they head into the first leg of the Europa Conference League quarterfinals to face Basel today at 3 p.m. ET.
“If anyone wants to make comments, they will. But not today, and not before this game,” said Digard. “We are united. There is no rift between the players and the staff. This is the army. Honestly, I have no fear about the state of mind. Nothing will disturb us. We know what we want and we will do everything to achieve it. Nobody will make us think about anything else.”