PSG coach Christophe Galtier accused of racism: what did he allegedly say while at Nice?

Current Paris Saint-Germain head coach Christophe Galtier has been accused of making racist remarks about his own players in August 2021, little over two months after had taken over as manager at Nice. According to French journalist Romain Molina and RMC Sport’s radio program After Foot, ex-Nice director of football Julien Fournier sent an email claiming that Galtier had using racist and discriminatory language during their time together at the Ligue 1 club.

Galtier “will never set foot in a dressing room again”

Last September, Fournier had already hinted that Galtier’s time on the Côte d’Azur had ended on bad terms. “If I explain the real reasons why we fought, because that’s really the word, Christophe Galtier will never set foot in a dressing room again, neither in France nor in Europe (...) It was indirectly related to soccer. These are things that really affect me”, said Fournier at the time.

The story has since moved on, with Molina now revealing that Fournier had sent an email to INEOS, the chemicals company who own Nice, at the end of last season to complain about an incident that had occurred on 9 August 2021 in which Galtier was at the centre.

Email claims “too many blacks and Muslims” comment

“Christophe Galtier then entered my office and greeted his son, who told him ‘you can check with my father what I told you (Galtier’s son is an agent and had also spoken to Fournier to warn him of his father’s views)’. After his agent/son had left, I told Galtier about the conversation we had just had and asked him if it was true. He replied that he was, and that he had to take into account what the city was like, and that we couldn’t have so many blacks and Muslims on the team,” the email reads.

Fournier continues, claiming in the email that Galtier “went to a restaurant and everyone attacked him for saying that the team was full of blacks.” The PSG coach got annoyed and told Fournier that “he had to realise that the team did not represent the city or what people wanted”, which led to a debate about which religions should be represented on the roster rather than solely footballing profiles.

“A team full of scum”

The most claims came at the end of the email, when Fournier reveals details of a meeting with Galtier’s adopted son, John Valovic-Galtier, who said that the situation “untenable” and that his father has been crying because of the make-up of the roster. “I asked him what was wrong and he explained that the team was not like him, that we couldn’t continue like this. I asked him to help me understand what he was saying and he told me, ‘you have built a team full of scum’. I asked him to be more precise and he added, ‘There are only blacks and half of your team is in the mosque on Friday afternoons...’. I told Mr. John Valovic-Galtier that I was outraged by his comments and I asked him to leave my office immediately”.