Claude Bez | |
---|---|
Born | (1940-11-04)November 4, 1940 Bordeaux, France |
Died | January 26, 1999(1999-01-26) (aged 58) Bordeaux, France |
Occupation | President of FC Girondins de Bordeaux (1978–1990) |
Claude Bez (November 4, 1940 – January 26, 1999), former Bordeaux soccer team chairman, was a personality in French football culture of the 1980s.
Biography
Claude Bez was born in Saint-Augustin, Bordeaux. His mother died when he was young. His father, Gaston, ran a small accounting firm that was growing quickly with branches in French overseas departments.
In his youth he played football for Coqs Rouges. On April 4, 1959, he won the U20 Gironde Cup against Girondins de Bordeaux. He played full-back, was thin and sported a mustache. He left Coqs Rouges for Villenave-d'Ornon, a neighborhood team, and soon devoted himself to a career in accounting.
He chaired Bordeaux for 12 years, leading the club to three French championship titles (1984, 1985 and 1987), two French Cups against Marseille in 1986 (2-1 after extra time) and in 1987 (2-0), and an uninterrupted run of participation in the European Cup from 1982 to 1989. He failed to achieve his dream of seeing Bordeaux become the first French club to win a European Cup; the team narrowly failed in the semi-finals in 1985 and 1987.
In 1988, he became superintendent of the French national team, a position created especially for him, and hired Michel Platini as coach to rebuild French football.
The end of his presidency was marked by his rivalry with Bernard Tapie. He is also known as the father of the French soccer broadcasting rights.
In september 1990, the fiscal administration launch a judiciary procedure against Bez for the surfacturation of Le Haillan, the formation center of the Girondins. In mars 1994, the Bordeaux tribunal condemn him to two years in prison and a fine of 2 million francs for fraud, forgery by instruction and concealment of use of forgery.
The 30 october of 1990, he launch another massive scandal in an interview to L’Équipe in which he confessed offering prostitutes to referees in european competitions.
He died of a heart attack in 1999.
See also
References and notes
References
- Tournebise, Laurent (Director), Pédebernard, Laurent (Director) (May 30, 2016). Claude Bez, le 13ème homme [Claude Bez, the 13th man] (France Télévisions, Mara Films) (in French). France 3 Aquitaine. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
- ^ "Claude Bez, un président grand cru" [Claude Bez, a grand cru president]. Autrement (in French). Paris. 1986. pp. 59–62. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
- "Le football en terre de rugby" [Soccer in rugby land]. Vingtième siècle (in French). Paris: Presses de la Fondation nationale des sciences politiques. 1990. pp. 97–107. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
- "OPA sur le foot français : derrière le "coup" Platini, Claude Bez, président des Girondins de Bordeaux" [Takeover bid for French football: behind the Platini 'coup', Claude Bez, chairman of Girondins de Bordeaux FC]. L'Express (in French). Paris. 1988. p. 64–66. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
- Auclair, Philippe (2009). Cantona: The Rebel Who Would Be King. London: Pan Macmillan. p. 107. ISBN 9780230747012.
- "Le putsch de Big Bez" [The Big Bez putsch]. Le Nouvel Observateur (in French). Paris. November 10, 1988. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
C'est l'ogre bordelais qui a mené toute l'affaire
- "Un putsch… très girondin" [A true girondin… putsch]. Le Figaro Magazine (in French). Paris. November 5, 1988. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
- ^ Artus, Hubert (2011). "Bez, Claude (1940-1999)". Donqui Foot (in French). Paris: Don Quichotte. ISBN 9782359490466.
- "Bordeaux : Claude Bez, 20 ans après sa mort, la nostalgie opère encore" [Bordeaux: Claude Bez, 20 years after his death, nostalgia is still operating]. Sud Ouest (in French).
- "Claude BEZ a offert des prostituées à un arbitre de Coupe d'Europe" [Claude BEZ offered prostitutes to a European Cup referee]. INA (in French).
- "Bez, la mort du shérif" [Bez: death of the sheriff]. Girondins4ever (in French). Archived from the original on November 7, 2007.
Notes
- Coqs Rouges: football section of Coqs Rouges, a French multi-sports club located in Gradignan.