According to France Bleu Orléans, the coach who arrived in Orléans in June 2023, refers to his experiences in North African teams, and very often uses the phrase: “You are no more stupid than North Africans”.
Five players from the US Orléans football club (Loiret), starters and substitutes, report racist remarks made by their coach Bernard Casoni, within the club. According to information from France Bleu Orléans, several members of the USO organization chart confirm these comments. Following these revelations from France Bleu Orléans, the club announced in a press release that an internal investigation had been opened.
Racist words were, for example, uttered by the club’s technician during a press conference at which France Bleu Orléans was present, on September 21, on the eve of a match between US Orléans and Châteauroux. Bernard Casoni is then questioned about the difficulties encountered in getting players to adhere to his principles. France Bleu reports the response from the coach, who knows that the radio microphone is on: “They [les joueurs] have things they excel at. But there are things where it’s not enough. This is where you have to be more efficient, where you have to erase that. My role is to tell them, show them and help them solve problems. That’s it that’s all. I did it in all the clubs I went to, I did it with North Africans! They’re no more stupid than North Africans, eh… I mean, that’s the role of a coach!”
Other comments also shocked several players
According to France Bleu Orléans, the USO coach, who arrived in Orléans in June 2023, refers to his experiences in Algerian, Moroccan and Tunisian teams, and very often uses the phrase: “You are no more stupid than North Africans”. Several US Orléans players say they have “often” heard this sentence in the mouth of Bernard Casoni, “every two weeks in training”.
Other comments from Bernard Casoni also shocked several players. A member of the team recounts this scene which took place during training in August: the players then carried out an exercise where two teams of five faced each other, et “my team consisted only of players of color”reports this player. “There, the coach said: ‘No need for bibs for them, they are already black’, supposedly in a humorous tone. That shocked me.” Comments confirmed by another USO player.
The brutality, in general, and Bernard Casoni’s workforce management methods are disturbing within US Orléans. The coach is known for his regular hurtful comments, including insults, reports France Bleu. “The coach violently insulted me, in front of witnesses, about my physical condition, which he said was not good enough”, says one of the players. An aggressive attitude also noted by those close to the Valenciennes club, where the coach worked from July 2014 to February 2015.
“Today we can no longer say anything”
According to a former USO executive, Bernard Casoni would have asked the club’s recruitment manager to ensure that the Orléans squad “be cleared”. This official neither confirms nor contradicts these comments. The coach tells France Bleu that he did not use this expression, and adds that he wants “simply that there is a balance in the team”. Contacted by France Bleu, he also refutes any accusation of racism: “My statement about North Africans at a press conference is to tell my players that they are as intelligent as North Africans! I worked there for six years and you think I’m racist? […] Today, we can no longer say anything.”
For his part, USO president Philippe Boutron claims to have never heard of his coach’s desire to “whitewash the workforce”. He adds : “Your goal is to kill the club […] Bernard Casoni certainly had some language blunders but he is anything but racist. There is no racism in football.”
A few hours after the revelations from France Bleu Orléans, the club announced in a press release that an internal investigation had been opened. “US Orléans has taken note of the accusations reported by France Bleu against Bernard Casoni. Given the seriousness of the facts cited, the club has decided to launch, without delay, an internal investigation. The club will not make any comment on this situation before the result of this investigation”details the club in a press release published Monday evening on its website and shared on the social network X (formerly Twitter).