According to Nice prosecutor Xavier Bonhomme, Paris Saint-Germain coach Christophe Galtier and his son have been detained as part of a French inquiry into claims of racism at one of his former clubs. On Friday morning, according to Bonhomme, Galtier and his son John Valovic-Galtier were taken into custody to be questioned. Galtier, who is leaving PSG but is still under contract, refuted claims that he made anti-Muslim and racist remarks when leading French club Nice at the time the issue surfaced earlier this year.
Galtier said he was “stunned to learn of the insulting and defamatory” report and threatened to take unspecified legal action
In an email to the club’s owners that was leaked, former Nice director of football Julien Fournier accused Galtier of complaining that the team had too many Black and Muslim players. This information was reported by RMC Sport and other French media outlets. He said he was “stunned to learn of the insulting and defamatory” report in a statement provided to French media by his attorney, and he threatened to take unspecified legal action.
Bonhomme said at the time a preliminary investigation had been opened into “discrimination on the grounds of alleged race or religion.” He said it was being handled by Nice police with searches of the club’s headquarters. PSG head of communications Julien Maynard said “serious allegations” had been made against Galtier and that the club fully supported him. According to RMC Sport, Fournier, who had disagreements with Galtier when at Nice, wrote to Dave Brailsford, the head of sports at Ineos, to inform him of the specifics of a conversation he had with the coach.
After winning the championship with Lille, Ineos acquired the southern club in 2019 and hired Galtier as coach in 2021. Before moving on to PSG, he played one season with Nice. After spending more than ten years at the club, Fournier left Nice in 2022. Galtier allegedly complained in August 2021 that the squad had too many Black and Muslim players and did not represent the ethnic makeup of the city, according to Fournier. According to Fournier, the document was not his doing, as reported by the neighborhood newspaper Nice-Matin.
In a prior interview with RMC, Fournier raised major concerns with Galtier, claiming that the PSG coach would never be able “to enter a locker room again” if he disclosed the details of their disagreement. Although PSG was expected to win another French league title under the leadership of the 56-year-old Galtier, this season PSG was upset by rival Marseille in both the French Cup and the Champions League. Following the World Cup, PSG’s performance dipped, with 10 losses in 28 games in 2023. Despite the fact that Galtier has one year left on his contract, PSG is apparently in talks with Luis Enrique to replace him soon.