Thuram accuses restaurant of racism

A former football World Cup winner, France’s Lilian Thuram, accused staff in an upmarket restaurant of racial discrimination during a visit to Brussels.

Thuram, his country’s most capped footballer, told Le Soir a staff member in the restaurant, La Paix, told Thuram the toilets were “reserved for clients” when he was dining there on Tuesday lunchtime.

Thuram said he was “stunned at this discrimination visibly linked to the colour of (my) skin” while in town to promote an anti-racism campaign.

The manager David Martin said there had been a “misunderstanding,” saying “we didn’t know he was a client.”