The Nice prosecutor said on Friday that Paris Saint-Germain coach Christophe Galtier will stand trial in December as a result of an inquiry into alleged discrimination.
The 56-year-old Galtier and his son, John Valovic-Galtier, a player’s agent, were detained earlier in the day as part of an inquiry begun in April following allegations that the coach made racist and Islamophobic remarks against players while coaching Nice in the 2021/22 season.
Galtier “denied the offences of which he could be accused” at a hearing on Friday, according to public prosecutor Xavier Bonhomme in a news release.
Galtier will be tried before the Nice Criminal Court on December 15 “on charges of moral harassment and discrimination based on actual or alleged membership or non-membership in a particular ethnic group, nation, alleged race, or religion,” according to the prosecutor.
The offenses are punishable by three years in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros (49,000 dollars).
According to the public prosecutor, Valovic-Galtier “was released following his hearing.”
Galtier led PSG to their 11th league title last season, but was warned by the club’s Qatari owners in early June that he would be fired after a generally disappointing season in which PSG suffered 10 defeats in 2023, departing the Champions League, the team’s major goal, in the final 16.
In April, claims relating to his tenure coaching Nice surfaced in the French media.
According to the claims, ex-Nice sporting director Julien Fournier sent an email at the close of the 2021/22 season in which he claimed Galtier made disparaging statements about the Nice squad.
“He (Galtier) told me that I should take account of the reality of the city and that in effect we should not have as many blacks and Muslims in the team,” claimed Fournier, whose relationship with Galtier was a fraught one.
“He told me he wanted to profoundly change the team’s make-up and limit the maximum number of Muslims.”
Galtier said he was “deeply shocked by the claims” and denied the allegations. He launched a defamation suit, saying he had received death threats, against two journalists and Fournier.
