Prosecuted for discrimination and harassment, mainly against Muslim footballers, Christophe Galtier, the former coach of Nice, was acquitted on Thursday, following a trial which turned into a settling of personal scores.
“Neither of the two offenses is characterized,” clarified 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 the former PSG coach.
For the prosecution, Galtier had “clearly sought to reduce the number of blacks and Muslims in the Nice team”, in particular by “instrumentalizing Ramadan”, the month of fasting in Islam, against a “background of ordinary racism”.
Returning to Qatar, where his team Al-Duhail was to play Thursday afternoon, Galtier was absent for the delivery of this judgment.
His lawyers welcomed their client’s legal victory: “It is a reaction of relief, because these odious accusations had caused significant damage in his life as a man and his professional career,” declared Me Olivier Martin.
“Today, it is 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 which had been carried out and the exploitation made of certain remarks, with the avowed aim of harming the man and his professional reputation.
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 Galtier of demanding fewer “blacks and Muslims” in the team and of rebelling against 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.
“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 pseudo-journalists,” insisted Mr. Martin.
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