PSG coach faces trial in discrimination probe

NICE: Paris Saint-Germain coach Christophe Galtier will face trial in December as a result of an investigation into alleged discrimination, the Nice prosecutor said on Friday (Jun 30).

The 56-year-old Galtier and his son John Valovic-Galtier - a player's agent - were taken in for questioning earlier in the day following an investigation launched in April, after claims the coach made racist and Islamophobic remarks about players when he coached Nice in the 2021/22 season.

At a hearing on Friday, Galtier "denied the offences of which he could be accused", said the public prosecutor Xavier Bonhomme in a press release.

Galtier will stand trial on Dec 15 before the Nice Criminal Court "on charges of moral harassment and discrimination on the grounds of actual or supposed membership or non-membership of a particular ethnic group, nation, alleged race or religion", the prosecutor said.

The offences are punishable by three years' imprisonment and a 45,000-euro (49,000-dollar) fine.

Valovic-Galtier "was released following his hearing", said the public prosecutor.

Galtier guided PSG to their 11th league title last season, but was told at the beginning of June by the club's Qatari owners he would be fired after a largely underwhelming season in which PSG suffered 10 defeats in 2023, exiting the Champions League, the team's main objective, in the last 16.

The allegations stemming from his time coaching Nice, surfaced in the French media in April.

The reports alleged that ex-Nice sporting director Julien Fournier had written an email at the end of the 2021/22 season in which he claimed Galtier had made discriminatory remarks about the Nice squad.

"He (Galtier) told me that I should take account of the reality of the city and that in effect we