Several Orléans players accuse their coach Bernard Casoni of racist remarks.
This is a case which is reminiscent of the one which shook Nice and its former coach Christophe Galtier a few months ago. Coach of Orléans in National (third French division), Bernard Casoni is the subject of accusations of racism for comments made in front of his players and other members of the Loiret club.
Several sentences are transcribed as examples this Monday by France Bleu Orléans, including one pronounced during a press conference two weeks ago and therefore reported directly by the local press: “ They’re no more stupid than North Africans, eh… », Bernard Casoni would have whispered about his players. “ It was to tell my players that they are as intelligent as North Africans. I worked there for six years and you think I’m racist? », defends the 62-year-old technician, who in his coaching career has officiated in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.
“We can no longer say anything,” defends Casoni
Another example, during training this summer: “ We were doing an exercise where two teams compete in a five-on-five game. My team consisted entirely of players of color. There, the coach said: “No need for bibs for them, they are already black”. It was supposedly in a humorous tone but it shocked me. » « I’m a southern guy, it’s football, it’s just chambering. Today we can no longer say anything », replies this time Bernard Casoni on the airwaves of the radio station.
Finally another testimony is put forward, that of a former USO executive who assures that the former international defender wanted to see his squad “ bleached “. “ I never asked to clear the squad, I simply want there to be a balance in the team. A community should not be over-represented. If there are too many hoops, it’s not good. Same if there are too many Africans or too many whites », Judge Bernard Casoni in his defense. The president of the club, Philippe Boutron, accuses the press of destabilization: “ You are in the business of destruction. You do like in the Christophe Galtier affair. Bernard Casoni certainly had some language blunders but he is anything but racist. There is no racism in football. »
