Galtier affair: the president of Nice (finally) comes out of silence

Since the start of the “Galtier affair”, the silence has been deafening on the side of Nice. The Riviera club only issued a (very) short press release: “The facts related concern two people who no longer work for OGC Nice. This situation was treated with the utmost seriousness at the time of the events. The club will not comment further. Obviously, Didier Digard was obliged to answer questions from journalists on the subject, he who is regularly sent to a press conference before the matches. That's all. And the Aiglons coach obviously didn't say much... What about President Rivère? More than a week after the disclosure of a damning email for the former Gym coach, but whose veracity of the words remains to be verified, he finally speaks.

It is in an interview granted to Nice Matin and L'Equipe that Jean-Pierre Rivère agrees to discuss this burning subject. Remember that Julien Fournier, former sports director of Nice, accuses Christophe Galtier of racist remarks in an email sent at the end of last season to Dave Brailsford, sports boss at Ineos, owner of the club. Since then, Galtier, stationed at PSG, has filed a complaint against Julien Fournier and two journalists, a preliminary investigation is underway. Mr. Rivère was also heard. "My hearing went very nice and friendly," promises the 65-year-old manager, noting that "this kind of business is not always very pleasant."

Why did you wait so long to speak? Jean-Pierre Rivère explains that he did not want to interfere with his club and the group led by Didier Digard before "a very important deadline", namely the quarter-final return of the Europa League Conference between the Aiglons and FC Basel, this Thursday . “It was important to pause on this subject, to preserve the group as much as possible. It's not easy and the idea was not to fuel all that", he assures, slipping in passing that it was "recommended to employees not to express themselves too much on the subject in order to protect this event (the C4) so ​​important. It makes a lot of noise, cacophony even. Thereafter, everyone will have total freedom to express themselves to say what they think. I have already been auditioned, I gave all the elements that I considered to have in my possession. Everyone will do the same.”

For the rest, Mr. Rivère did not lift the veil on great secrets and even less confirmed… or invalidated the remarks attributed to Galtier in Fournier's incendiary email. “Julien Fournier said to me one day: “I am going to write a letter to Ineos. He did not want to give me the content, which I respect. This email, I still have not seen it. I only had the elements reported by the journalist M. Molina. Point bar. What I heard, saw, understood, didn't understand, I won't tell you. I gave everything I could to the investigators during my hearing. I hope that everyone will be able to express themselves freely within the framework of the investigation. I will not today, in the press, tell you what I expressed to the investigators, ”he says, then reaffirming that he has not read the content of the famous email to date.

He also did not want to discuss Fournier-Galtier relations in detail, but assures that Paris Saint-Germain did not question him on this affair before appointing him. "I was asked how I felt. I replied that it was not up to me to say what PSG should do in relation to its future coach. "Promises the Riviera leader, who did not communicate with Fournier or Galtier.

And to add, to the question of whether he has any regrets about the management of the affair last season, when the protagonists, Christophe Galtier and Julien Fournier, were still employees of OGC Nice: "I don't I have no comment to make on this subject. My role is to preserve the institution”, he swears, awaiting the conclusions of justice but without risking a prognosis. “Everyone, player, coach, has their opinion and will express it very freely, and the investigation will conclude with something. (…) Everything I was able to express, I did in a very relaxed way within the framework of the investigation, and there is a duty of reserve. My priority is to protect the club and the players,” he concludes.