The dramatic days at Paris Saint-Germain just don’t seem to stop. After Kylian Mbappe’s letter fiasco where he confirmed he won’t extend with the club, new trouble has brewed. Current head coach, soon-to-be former, Christophe Galtier has been arrested for racism and discrimination after some hugely problematic statements of his became public.
He faces up to three years in prison and the trial begins on December 15. Galtier’s son, John Valivic-Galtier, has also been detained.
Here’s all you need to know about the fiasco.
Why is Christophe Galtier arrested?
Some emails were leaked from his time at OGC Nice, where he made some problematic statements which were racist and xenophobic in nature.
The email he allegedly sent read:
“You have built a team of scum. There are only blacks and half the team go to the mosque on Friday”.
It started in April, when Julian Fournier, Nice’s Sporting Director when Galtier was the coach there, alleged that Galtier told him “we should not have as many blacks and Muslims in the team”.
“He wanted to profoundly change the team’s make-up and limit the number of Muslims,” Fournier had said.
Since then, a discrimination probe had been going on while Galtier was in charge of PSG.
The PSG manager vehemently denied the claims. He was “deeply shocked” and launches a defamation suit against Fournier and the journalist who ran the story.
More information on the arrest and probe is expected to be provided by the prosecutor on Friday.
Galtier’s fall from grace
Not long ago, Christophe Galtier was regarded as the “Miracle Man” of French football. He had hugely successful stints at AS Saint-Etienne, then OGC Nice. He then did the impossible, winning the Ligue 1 title with Lille in 2021, pipping PSG.
It prompted PSG to approach him and he took charge of France’s most dominant club.
However, these allegations, combined with the lacklustre performances under him mean that he has suffered a huge fall from grace.
PSG just about managed to win the Ligue 1 title while another limp performance in the Champions League saw them crash out again.
Galtier could not make the team, blessed with the talents of Messi, Neymar, and Mbappe, gel and the result was a group of players on the pitch, instead of a team.
Now with this huge black mark on his profile due to these allegations, it remains to be seen how quickly and at what level Galtier returns to football.
For PSG, it doesn’t change much. Galtier’s fate has already been decided. PSG will part ways with him after one season and they are close to appointing Luis Enrique as the new manager.
Furthermore, the allegations pertain to Galtier’s days as OGC Nice manager so their involvement in the matter is expected to be minimal, if at all.
However, it does add another dramatic chapter to PSG, a club which is making a habit of coming into the news for all the unwanted reasons.