Christophe Galtier began the press conference on Friday with a statement in which he said he was “shocked” by the accusations of racism leveled against him.
A short press conference. Forced to address an extra-sporting subject because of accusations of racism against him, Christophe Galtier spoke for the first time, Friday April 14, on the eve of the match between PSG and RC Lens, Saturday at Parc princes. The technician cut short his appearance in front of the media, tired of the questions surrounding this affair.
Christophe Galtier said to himself “deeply shocked” by the words attributed to him, which “[le] strike deep within [son] humanity”. The coach insisted on recalling that he was “a child of the HLM housing estates, brought up in the mix” and that its “Life as a man, as a footballer, then as a coach, has been guided by concerns about sharing”. The Parisian coach also declared that he could not “what to satisfy” of the opening of an investigation, claiming that he “confidence in the justice of [son] country”. A preliminary investigation has indeed been opened by the Nice prosecutor’s office for “discrimination at work”, and the premises of the Riviera club searched.
For his part, Christophe Galtier filed three complaints for defamation against Julien Fournier, the former sports director of OGC Nice, and journalists Daniel Riolo and Romain Molina. A second complaint will be filed against the three men for endangering others. Finally, a third complaint against X will be filed for harassment and death threats. “I cannot accept that my name and my family are smeared in this way, and therefore I have decided to sue anyone who will harm my honor”; he said, while ensuring that he received “lots of messages, many very unpleasant, but also many messages of support”. On the other hand, to the question of a journalist who asked him if he thought it was about revenge, he said: “I can’t answer this question”before slipping away.
PSG support their coach and have ‘no tolerance for intolerance’
Paris Saint-Germain, through its communications manager, Julien Maynard, “supports Christophe Galtier after the numerous and unacceptable threats he has received and now wishes that the truth be established by justice”. The Parisian club ensures that “its management, its players and all of its employees have no tolerance for intolerance, on and off the pitch”. After calling for “appeasement”the PSG affirms that it “will not be troubled by this episode” and that everyone “stay fully focused on the game” against Lens.
Christophe Galtier himself asserted with conviction that he “prepared for this match”, praising these moments spent this week on the pitch “with his players, (his) staff”, who “allowed me to evacuate for a while what was said about me”.