A former football World Cup winner, France's Lilian Thuram, accused staff in an upmarket restaurant of racial discrimination during a visit to Brussels, a Belgian newspaper reported Friday.
Thuram, his country's most capped footballer who also played for top clubs Barcelona and Juventus, 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.
A leading rights and education campaigner, 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.
Thuram left the restaurant "shocked and baffled" after rejoining his table, the paper said.
The manager David Martin said there had been a "misunderstanding," saying "we didn't know he was a client and I admit I didn't recognise him. There was no wilful discrimination."
Thuram, who was born in Guadeloupe, has recently spoken out against a "scandal" in French football over recent weeks concerning suggested quotas for French-speaking footballers of African, Caribbean or Pacific origin going through national player academies.