Author of racist remarks, Bernard Casoni, the Orléans coach, defended himself on RMC this Tuesday evening.
The comments relayed on Monday by France Bleu Orléans and which today earned him suspension from his duties as USO coach, Bernard Casoni does not refute them. Deemed racist, the words of the former French international motivated the opening of an investigation by the prosecution but the person concerned pleads clumsiness, denying any form of racism in his speech.
“ Of course I was clumsy. Of course. But I’m not racist at allhe trumpets on the RMC antenna this Tuesday evening. The way it’s interpreted, it can be confusing. These are words that could be said 20 years ago but can no longer be said now, that’s all. I admit I was clumsy, but I can’t be called racist. It’s against my upbringing and my nature. Everyone who has been around me is surprised. »
The conspiracy thesis
“ In my 40 years of career, I have never experienced this. How can you say I’m racist? I’ve been in football for 40 years. As a player, I never had any problems. I was raised in sharing, I was raised with harkis, I roomed with Muslimshe defends himself again. As a coach, I was in Algeria, in Morocco, I did Eid with the people, I did Ramadan, I read the Koran… In all the countries I went to, I was welcomed. For what ? Because I put myself as people live. »
Bernard Casoni is convinced: certain players at the club – the USO – worked to damage his reputation and get him sidelined. “ They have the right to do things but I don’t have the right to say things? They use that to attack me because there are people that I have questioned in the club, in the team,” breathes the 62-year-old technician. They’ve done this before with other coaches. It’s not from now. The club has been in difficulty for three, four years. (…) This story happened just after a victory to put us back in difficulty… It’s not trivial either. It’s not easy, but we will fight to have my honor cleared. »
