Nice’s Didier Digard reaffirms neutrality in Christophe Galtier affair and welcomes inquest

Current OGC Nice manager Didier Digard has clarified comments he made about the Christophe Galtier affair on Wednesday, asserting his neutrality and welcoming the legal inquest. 

An alleged leaked email, sent by former Nice sporting director Julien Fournier accused Galtier of racism during their time together at Les Aiglons last season. Galtier’s lawyer first refuted the allegations before the Paris Saint-Germain responded during a press conference on Friday. 

“I am deeply shocked by the remarks that are being attributed to me, which have been passed on in an irresponsible way, and that wound me to the core of my human nature. I’m a child of the city projects [HLM] who grew up in a multicultural environment – and grew up respecting others whatever their origin, skin colour or religion,” said Galtier in a press conference attended by Get French Football News. 

Digard, who according to Nice-Matin had a tense relationship with Galtier, whilst the former was manager of the reserve team, then spoke about the accusations during a press conference ahead of Les Gym’s UEFA Europa Conference League match against Basel. 

“You saw, like us, that we made the headlines today, however unintentionally. The club has released a statement. We won’t add anything more. There are two opposing versions, the truth will come out,” said Digard. 

However, Digard has now sought to clarify his position and confronted the misinterpretation of his quotes, which he states didn’t represent a stance. 

“To conclude on the Galtier affair, I thought my sentence was in French, but apparently not. I said there are two opposing versions, the truth will come out. For me that’s French. Apparently, that has been taken as a stance. I know that the way in which you turn things, you’re going to make things turn in people’s minds. For me, my sentence was French, and at no moment did it take a side, or incited someone to take one side or another, contrary to what some people managed to do. I think I was very straight in my statement, and I have no reason not to be. Now, and it’s good for us, that the justice system has got involved, we have the certainty that a truth will come out,” said Digard on Saturday, in a press conference, aired by RMC Sport. 

He added, “At that point, we can maybe speak, but until then, we won’t speak about it anymore. It’s great [that an inquest has been opened]. Otherwise, it’s the people’s court, and it’s terrible. 

GFFN | Luke Entwistle