2023-12-21 15:25:33
Christophe Galtier, le 8 mars 2023. ANDREAS SCHAAD / AP
Prosecuted for discrimination and harassment, mainly against Muslim footballers, Christophe Galtier, the former coach of Nice, was acquitted on Thursday, December 21, following a trial which turned into a settling of scores.
“Neither of the two offenses is characterized”, specified the Nice criminal court, in pronouncing its judgment. In his indictment at the hearing, on December 15, the public prosecutor of Nice, Damien Martinelli, had nevertheless delivered a very harsh indictment, demanding a one-year suspended prison sentence and a 45,000 euro fine against the man who was also PSG coach. For the prosecution, Christophe Galtier had “clearly sought to reduce the number of blacks and Muslims on the team” Nice, particularly in “instrumentalizing Ramadan”on “ordinary racism background”.
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Fewer “blacks and Muslims” on the team
Returning to Qatar, where his team, Al-Duhail, was to play Thursday afternoon, Christophe Galtier was absent for the judgment. His lawyers welcomed their client’s legal victory: “It is a reaction of relief, because these odious accusations had caused significant damage to his life as a man and his professional career”declared Me Olivier Martin. “It’s a total rehabilitation for him (…) but it is also a satisfaction for the defense, because we were able to deconstruct the offenses unfairly pursued by the prosecution, but also because we were able to demonstrate the manipulation that had been carried out and the instrumentalization made of certain remarks, with the avowed aim to harm the man and his professional reputation”he reacted.
“This decision is a wake-up call, justice is delivered in the courtrooms, in the context of an adversarial debate, not in late-night talk shows or on YouTube by two incompetent pseudojournalists”added Me Martin.
The affair began in April with the revelation by journalists of an inflammatory email from May 2022 from Julien Fournier, then general director of OGC Nice, to the shareholder, the British group Ineos. He accused Christophe Galtier of demanding less “blacks and Muslims” in the team and to rebel against the players who refused to suspend Ramadan on match days, as did the Muslim Lille with whom he had been champion of France the previous season.
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