Jean-Clair Todibo tells police Christophe Galtier pressured him to break Ramadan fast

OGC Nice centre-back Jean-Clair Todibo (23) has told police that his former manager, Christophe Galtier, pressured him to break his Ramadan fast. The allegation was revealed just 10 days before the former Nice and Paris Saint-Germain manager’s hearing.

Galtier has been charged by the French authorities with moral harassment and ethnic, racial or religious discrimination, which would entail a three-year prison sentence and a €45,000 fine. The manager, now managing Qatari side Al-Duhail, has repeatedly denied the allegations, which surfaced after a leaked email from former colleague and Nice sporting director Julien Fournier was made public. 

Galtier accused of describing Todiob as a ‘Salafite’ and a ‘terrorist’

With the date for the hearing set for 15th December, L’Équipe have revealed more details from the affair. Todibo, one of the alleged victims of Galtier’s harassment and discrimination, reportedly told police, when questioned, that his manager pressured him into breaking his Ramadan fast. 

The France international centre-back also told police that he had found out from other people at OGC Nice that Galtier had described him as a “Salafite” and a “terrorist“. Former teammate Hassane Kamara, who now plays for Udinese, has confirmed the anecdote and added that Galtier called him “scum” and deprived him of game time due to his religion. Galtier denies the claims and adds that, given that Kamara was transferred to Watford in January 2022, he was not managed by Galtier during the Ramadan period. 

Hicham Boudaoui, Teddy Boulhendi and Pablo Rosario echo Todibo’s claims

Khéphren Thuram and Youcef Atal have both said that they did not witness any discrimination. The former, who is charged with “provoking religion-based racial hatred”, told enquirers that there were “noises” that weighed on the dressing room, but denied being a witness to discriminatory language or behaviour. 

However, Hicham Bouadoui, Teddy Boulhendi and Pablo Rosario all say that they, like Todibo, were pressured to break their Ramadan fast by Galtier, who reportedly insisted that the practice of Ramadan negatively impacted performance. Boulhendi in particular said that he “felt obliged” to eat on the days of matches for fear of being dropped from the squad. 

Didier Digard threatened to resign after alleged Galtier comments

Fournier, meanwhile, alleges that Didier Digard, who at the time was manager of Nice’s reserve team, was dismayed when he heard, via assistant manager Frédéric Gioria, that Galtier had said that it “wasn’t normal” that Digard was manager of the reserve side. Galtier allegedly said that Digard risked indoctrinating the youth players, upon hearing of the reserve team manager’s religion. 

As reported by Nice-Matin, Digard offered his resignation to Fournier, but the latter ultimately convinced the former to remain at the club. 

Galtier has repeatedly denied the charges and with just 10 days to go until the hearing, his lawyer told L’Équipe that his client was “determined” ahead of the hearing. “He is waiting for this contradictory public debate to finally end and he will demonstrate that he clearly never discriminated against or harassed anyone,” his lawyers Olivier Martin and Sébastien Schapira told the publication. 

GFFN | Luke Entwistle