Word to the defense. Accused of having made racist remarks, Orléans coach Bernard Casoni spoke this Tuesday on RMC. Recall of facts. Quoting several players and members of the Loiret club, resident of National 1 (3rd division), France Bleu Orléans reported on Monday what were, to say the least, surprising comments made by the 62-year-old technician. The person concerned notably stated that his players “are no more stupid than North Africans. Other statements of the same nature would have been made. Since then, the Orléans public prosecutor’s office has opened a preliminary investigation for provocation of hatred or racial discrimination and for public insults of a racist nature, and the club suspended Casoni “during the duration of the internal investigation”, as it was reported. ‘learned in a press release.
Until now, the former OM player had remained silent, having notably coached in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco since his beginnings as a coach at the end of the 90s. Silence that he break this Tuesday evening. For him, it is clear: some players deliberately aim to harm him. “Like they have done before with other coaches. It’s not from now. The club has been in difficulty for three, four years,” says the Cannes native, saying he is “touched and hurt.” “How can you say that I am racist?” he asks himself, recalling having “been raised with Harkis”.
“It impacts my family,” he regrets, while the USO is in difficulty with a 17th place in the National 1 ranking. “This story happened just after a victory to put us back in difficulty… It’s not not trivial either. It’s not easy, but we’re going to fight so that my honor is cleared,” he promises, he who “would never have imagined that” and obviously says he is ready to respond to all requests. of Justice. “Clumsiness? Of course I was clumsy. But I am not at all racist, he still asserts on RMC. The way it’s interpreted, it can be confusing. These are words that could be said 20 years ago but can no longer be said now, that’s all. I admit I was clumsy, but I can’t be called racist. It’s against my upbringing and my nature. Everyone who has been around me is amazed.”
Bernard Casoni also spoke in detail about some of the phrases attributed to him, such as “You are no more stupid than Maghrebians”: “One of the last clubs I coached was in the Maghreb. (…) So I said that what I had put in place there, I was capable of putting it in place in Orléans. These are somewhat vague sentences. It’s as if I had coached in Canada and said ‘We’re not stupider than Canadians’.” He would also have said, during training, while addressing a group of five black players, “for you, no need for bibs because you are all black”: “I said: “They are black, so no need to wear bibs,” he promises, assuring that it was a matter of the color of the jersey.
Last but not least, Casoni reportedly said in the locker room: “That’s a black fart.” “I go into the locker room. I walk past three players of color and one makes a big fart. I say, “Oh, you have to respect people,” and all three of them start laughing. In jest, I said: “That’s a black fart.” If they allow themselves to laugh, I can laugh too. At the time, I could have yelled at them. But as they took it as a joke, I took it as a joke too.” And the former OM coach (1999-2000), who also denies having wanted to “whitewash” the Orléans locker room during last summer’s transfer window, sums up: “They have the right to things but I’m not allowed to say them? They use that to attack me because there are people that I have questioned in the club, in the team. It’s up to justice to decide.