Carlos Zalduendo ( French: ''Charles Zalduendo'') (born in Peralta, 17 August 1952) is a French former

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

footballer and the chairman of the

Toulouse Olympique Toulouse Olympique or TO XIII is a professional rugby league club in Toulouse, south-west France. Founded in 1937, two years after the French Rugby League Federation, the club is a six-time winner of the French Rugby League Championship. The ...

club. Between 2012 and 2016, he was president of the

French Rugby League Federation The French Rugby League Federation (french: Fédération Française de Rugby à XIII (FFR)) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in France. The Federation was formed during 1934 and since then has organised and governed th ...

. He is also a former police inspector (later police officer, after the 1995 reform which made obsolete the dichotomy between plainclothes and uniformed agents).

Biography

He was the youngest of a family with five sons. He arrived in France at the age of 5 years. His father was a bricklayer who settled in Artix, near Pau, while his mother settled in

Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port (literally "Saint John t theFoot of hePass"; eu, Donibane Garazi; es, San Juan Pie de Puerto) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. It is close to Ostabat in the Pyrenean footh ...

. During his childhood, he dominated three languages,

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

and French. Wanting to become a curate, he attended the Gimont seminar from the seventh to the fourth year and then, the Christ Roi in Toulouse until the first year. Parallelly, he practiced many sports activities such as track and field, handball and rugby union, attending the

Section Paloise Section Paloise (, Bearnese: ), commonly referred to as ''Section'' or as ''Pau'' , is a professional rugby union club based in Pau, France. They compete in the Top 14, France's top division of rugby, and the EPCR Challenge Cup. Their home g ...

's club. Scouted at the age of 16 by the

talent scout, he engaged himself and quickly demonstrated real attitude to play for Toulouse Olympique in First Division at the age of 17 and become a French international at age 17. As rugby league could not afford him a living, he parallelly sat and passed a police inspector competitive exam in Toulouse and occupied this activity between 1975 and 2007, appreciating the "feeling of usefulness" of said profession, attending the

criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...

vice unit A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character tr ...

and liquor licence services. He allied for his entire rugby league player career with his police inspector work.

Player career

He played for

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...

(1969–80),

Villeneuve-sur-Lot Villeneuve-sur-Lot (; in the Languedocien dialect of Occitan language: ''Vilanuèva d'Òlt'' ) is a town and commune in the southwestern French department of Lot-et-Garonne. The commune was formerly named ''Villeneuve-d'Agen''. Villeneuve-sur-L ...

(1980–82) and Saint-Gaudens (1982–84). During his playing career, he was selected 25 times to play for the France national team and beat Australia twice in 1978. He was twice French Champion with Toulouse in 1973 and 1975. After his playing career, he became vice-president of the

between 1985 and 1994 and took the presidency of the Toulouse Olympique club in 1995 until 2012. As chairman of Toulouse Olympique, he created the association "La Table Ovale" in 1995 by placing a partner network around Toulouse Olympique, to allow the club to join the Super League.

Honours

French Rugby League Championship The French rugby league championship (french: Le Championnat de France de Rugby à XIII) has been the major rugby league tournament for semi-professional and professional clubs in France since the sport was introduced to the country in the 1930s. ...

**Champion of France in 1973 and 1975 (Toulouse) **Runner-up in 1981 (Villeneuve-sur-Lot) **Runner-up in 1976 (Toulouse)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zalduendo, Carlos 1952 births Living people France national rugby league team players French rugby league administrators French rugby league players Saint-Gaudens Bears players Spanish emigrants to France Spanish rugby league players Sportspeople from Navarre Sportspeople from Pyrénées-Atlantiques French police officers Rugby league props Toulouse Olympique players Villeneuve Leopards players