The open war between Julien Fournier and Christophe Galtier is experiencing a new development. In an email sent to his management that the independent journalist Romain Molina and RMC Sport were able to consult and claim to have authenticated, Julien Fournier, former football director of OGC Nice, accuses the former Nice coach Christophe Galtier, today coach PSG, racist and discriminatory remarks.
Last September, Fournier had launched, enigmatic: “If I explain the real reasons for which we argued, because that’s really the word, Christophe will no longer enter a locker room, neither in France nor in Europe. (…) It was indirectly linked to football. These are things that touch me deeply. »
In an email sent at the end of last season to the management of Ineos, and more specifically to Dave Brailsford, the owner of OGC Nice, the ex-director says more. He recounts a scene dating according to him from August 9, 2021, i.e. at the very beginning of the season: “Christophe Galtier then arrived in my office and greeted his son who told me “you can check with my father what I tell you. I said” (the adopted son of Christophe Galtier is also his agent and he had reported his father’s words to Fournier). Once his agent/son left, I told Christophe about the discussion I had just had and asked him if it was all true. He then replied that yes and that I had to take into account the reality of the city, and that indeed we could not have so many blacks and Muslims in the team. »
“You have built a team of scum”
A little further in his letter, Julien Fournier clarifies his words: “He (Galtier) told me: yesterday, I went to the restaurant and everyone fell on me saying that we have a team of blacks . “Christophe Galtier would have added according to him:” Julien, you must realize in which city we are, we are in the city of Jacques Médecin (the former mayor of Nice), and our team does not correspond to what people want, as it does not correspond to me. There was no sporting argument but only religious or skin color arguments. »
In his email, Fournier also details the interview that preceded this one with the son and agent of Christophe Galtier, John Valovic-Galtier: “I met at his request the son and allegedly agent (a preliminary investigation for “exercise illegal activity as a sports agent” was opened by the Nice prosecutor’s office in March 2022) by the coach on August 9, i.e. 2 days after the first day of the championship played at home against Stade de Reims. He wanted to see me urgently because he considered the situation of his “client” (Christophe Galtier) untenable. (…) He then told me about his father’s untenable situation in the following words: Julien, it’s not okay, my father was in tears yesterday, you don’t realize ».
“I ask him what it is and he explains to me that this team doesn’t look like it, that we can’t go on like this. I asked him to back up his words so that I could understand better and he said to me: you’ve built a team of scum. (…) I asked him to be more specific and he then added: There are only blacks and half your team is at the mosque on Friday afternoon… I told Mr. John Valovic-Galtier that I was scandalized by his remarks and asked him to leave my office immediately. »