Burak Yılmaz on the Christophe Galtier allegations: “He’s a fantastic coach as well as a fantastic person.” | OneFootball

Burak Yilmaz, a Turkish striker who played under Christophe Galtier at Lille OSC during their championship-winning season in 2020-2021, took to social media to support his former coach, who is facing allegations of discriminatory remarks towards Muslim players during his tenure at OGC Nice last season.

In an alleged email revealed by Daniel Riolo on RMC show l’After Foot on Tuesday night – and first disclosed by journalist Romain Molina earlier in the evening – serious accusations have made by Julien Fournier, Nice’s former Director of Football, against Galtier during their time at Nice. According to the email, Galtier notably told Fournier that the team “could not have so many blacks and Muslims in the team.”

Yilmaz claims to have never experienced any negative behavior towards him based on his religion or nationality. In the message he posted on social media, Yilmaz stated that he felt compelled to speak out after reading the news. According to Yilmaz, Galtier was not only a fantastic coach but also a fantastic person who treated him with respect throughout their time together, “I read the news today and felt I had to say something. I worked with Galtier and never felt any negative behavior from him because of my religion or nationality. He’s a fantastic coach as well as a fantastic person.”

Galtier, through a statement made by his lawyer to AFP, has refuted the allegations “in the strongest terms,“ whilst Fournier has denounced the “timing” and the “content” of the leaked email.

GFFN | Tony DesRois