Sports

PSG Coach, Galtier In Police Custody Over Alleged Discrimination

Published

2 years ago

June 30, 2023

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.

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 December 15 before the Nice Criminal Court “p, 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 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.

– Judicial enquiry –

Fournier indicated to AFP on May 22 he had been questioned as part of the judicial enquiry without giving any further details.

Several players and directors, including the club president Jean-Pierre Rivere and former coach Didier Digard were also questioned by investigators.

The message was reportedly sent by Fournier — whose relationship with Galtier was tense — to Dave Brailsford, the former head of British Cycling and Team Sky now the Director of Sport at Ineos, the owners of Nice.

Galtier and Fournier both left Nice last year after working together at the club for one season, with the former being appointed by PSG.

Galtier — a former no nonsense defender who played most of his career at Marseille where he was born — had enjoyed a highly successful career as a coach.

He began with Saint-Etienne before taking on Lille and guiding them to the 2021 Ligue 1 crown but moved on to Nice soon afterwards.

He took them to the French Cup final in 2022 — where they lost to Nantes — but he could not resist the challenge of attempting to secure the Champions League trophy when PSG came calling last year.

However, despite having the troika of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe in the team, PSG again fell short and Galtier’s fate was sealed.

Sports

Court Fixes Date To Hear Sala Compensation Dispute

Published

3 days ago

December 9, 2025

Editor

A commercial court examining the long-running dispute between Cardiff City and French club Nantes over compensation for the death of Emiliano Sala in a plane crash said Monday it would give its decision on March 30 next year.

Sala, a 28-year-old Argentine striker, died when the light aircraft taking him to the Welsh capital came down in the English Channel on January 21, 2019, two days after he had signed for the then-Premier League side. He and pilot David Ibbotson were killed.

The Welsh club took the case to the Nantes commercial court in 2023 to claim compensation for loss of income and other damages suffered by the club as a result of the player’s death.

Following an analysis conducted by an expert appointed by Cardiff City, the club estimated their losses at over 120 million euros ($139.5 million). Lawyers for both clubs made their cases at Monday’s hearing.

The Welsh club argue that Nantes, through their intermediary, agent Willie McKay, were the organisers of the private flight on which the footballer was travelling and that, if the transfer was effective at the time of the accident according to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), it is the organisation of this flight that is at issue.

Cardiff City’s lawyer, Olivier Loizon, told the court Monday, Willie McKay “could not have been unaware of the illegality of the flight”, and argued that the agent had acted with “negligence”.

“Whatever the ultimate cause of the accident, (Sala) should not have been on the flight,” he added.

Nantes’ lawyer, Jerome Marsaudon, insisted Monday the only agent authorised by the club in connection with the transfer was Mark McKay, the son of Willie McKay.

The elder McKay “was simply helping his son, given his extensive experience”, the lawyer said.

“It is sad to see that Cardiff have exploited this tragedy and turned it into a genuine legal farce,” he added. “Nothing in this case justifies holding FC Nantes liable.”

Prior to the start of the hearing, a Nantes representative said the club “have no doubt that Cardiff’s claims will be rejected outright, just like all the others”.

In another case related to the dispute between the two clubs, CAS ruled in 2022 that Sala’s transfer had definitely been finalised at the time of his death.

In 2023, world football’s governing body FIFA ordered Cardiff to pay Nantes the balance of Sala’s transfer fee, which at the time amounted to just over 11 million euros out of a total of 17 million euros.

Sports

Salah A ‘Disgrace’ For Liverpool Outburst – Carragher

Published

3 days ago

December 9, 2025

Editor

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher labelled Mohamed Salah “a disgrace” on Monday after the Egypt star’s stunning outburst at Reds boss Arne Slot.

Salah said he had been “thrown under a bus” and had no relationship with Slot after he was left on the bench for last Saturday’s 3-3 draw at Leeds.

It was the third successive game that Salah had been kept out of the starting line-up by Slot amid the forward’s loss of form this season.

In response to Salah’s astonishing rant to reporters, Liverpool axed the 33-year-old from the squad for Tuesday’s Champions League clash at Inter Milan.

Speaking on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, Carragher, a 2005 Champions League winner with Liverpool, said: “I thought it was a disgrace what he did after the game.

“Some people have painted it as an emotional outburst. I don’t think it was. I think whenever Mo Salah stops in a mixed zone, which he has done four times in eight years at Liverpool, it’s choreographed with his agent to cause maximum damage and strengthen his own position.

“He’s chosen this weekend to do this now, and he’s waited I think for a bad result… everyone involved with the club (feeling) like they’re in the gutter, and he’s chosen that time to go for the manager and maybe try to get him sacked.”

Salah is a two-time Premier League champion with Liverpool and has also won the Champions League during his iconic eight-year spell at Anfield.

But, although he only signed a new contract in April, Salah hinted he might have played his last game for Liverpool as he prepares to jet off to the African Cup of Nations after their Premier League clash with Brighton at Anfield on Saturday.

Salah has been linked with a lucrative move to the Saudi Pro League and and Carragher added: “What he’s done off the pitch, I think the club have made the right decision in terms of him not going abroad. Whether he will play for Liverpool again, I don’t know.

“I hope he does, because he’s one of the greatest players we’ve ever had, but if you continue like that, and statements like that, if he doesn’t play, who knows.”

Sports

JUST IN: Full Draw For 2026 World Cup Group Stages Confirmed

Published

6 days ago

December 5, 2025

Editor

The draw for the group stage of the 2026 World Cup has been conducted.

It took place at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., with US President Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino in charge.

There will be 48 teams at next year’s tournament, to be played across the United States, Mexico and Canada.

All the participating countries were grouped into 12 groups of four.

Here is the full draw:

Group A: Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, Winner Play-off D
Group B: Canada, Winner Play-off A, Qatar, Switzerland
Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland
Group D: United States, Paraguay, Australia, Winner Play-off C
Group E: Germany, Curaçao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador
Group F: Netherlands, Japan, Winner Play-off B, Tunisia
Group G: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand
Group H: Spain, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay
Group I: France, Senegal, Winner Play-off 2, Norway
Group J: Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan
Group K: Portugal, Winner Play-off 1, Colombia, Uzbekistan
Group L: England, Croatia, Panama, Ghana