The racism affair has serious consequences for the outgoing coach of France’s football champions Paris St. Germain, Christophe Galtier.
At 8:45 a.m. on Friday morning, the football teacher and his son were provisionally arrested in Nice. It is about the suspicion of discrimination, said prosecutor Xavier Bonhomme of the news agency “AFP”.
During the hearing on Friday, Galtier again rejected the allegations, Bonhomme said in the evening. The 56-year-old now has to appear in court in Nice on December 15. The offenses he is accused of can be punished with a fine (up to 45,000 euros) or a prison sentence of up to three years.
In mid-April, preliminary proceedings were opened against Galtier on charges of “discrimination based on race or religious affiliation”. It’s about Galtier’s time at OGC Nice.
The public prosecutor had initiated an investigation
Galtier had denied racist and anti-Islamic comments made about players during his time at Nice. These emerged in an email apparently sent by former Nice sports director Julien Fournier to representatives of club owner INEOS.
After the allegations were published, the public prosecutor’s office officially launched an investigation. Galtier, for his part, had initiated legal action for defamation.
Galtier moved from Nice to the French capital last summer. He had led PSG to the championship, but had failed with his star ensemble in the Champions League at Bayern Munich.
The replacement of the coach is not yet official, but the separation is obviously imminent.