Christian Jeanpierre (also spelt Jean-Pierre, born 9 April 1965) is a French

sports journalist Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the n ...

who has worked for French television channels Canal+ and

TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is par ...

, as well as radio station

Europe 1 Europe 1, formerly known as Europe n° 1, is a privately owned radio station created in 1955. Owned and operated by Lagardère Active, a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group, it is one of the leading radio broadcasting stations in France and its pro ...

. Jeanpierre presented TF1's football programme,

Téléfoot ''Téléfoot'' is a French Association football, football programme produced by TF1 Group, TF1 Production for TF1. The programme was created by Pierre Cangioni in 1977 to show French Ligue 1, Division 1 highlights. Téléfoot now covers France ...

, in 2004, and from 2008 to 2018.

Personal life

Jeanpierre was born in Le Puy-en-Velay, Haute-Loire, and grew up in

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 Par ...

. His grandparents were farmers. He studied at the Journalists Training Center in

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

. Jeanpierre is a supporter of

Toulouse FC Toulouse Football Club is French professional football club based in Toulouse. The club was founded in 1970 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the premier division of French football. Toulouse plays its home matches at the Stadium de Toulouse lo ...

, and rugby union team

Stade Toulousain Stade Toulousain () ( oc, Estadi Tolosenc), also referred to as Toulouse, is a professional rugby union club based in Toulouse, France. They compete in the Top 14, France's top division of rugby, and the European Rugby Champions Cup. Toulou ...

. He is an amateur drummer, and plays music with

Jean-Jacques Goldman Jean-Jacques Goldman (; born 11 October 1951) is a French singer-songwriter and music record producer. He is hugely popular in the French-speaking world. Since the death of Johnny Hallyday in 2017 he has been the highest grossing living French p ...

Career

Jeanpierre's first journalistic work was for the La Dépêche du Midi whilst he was providing humanitarian aid in Mali. In 1987, he began working for the magazine ''ça m'intéresse''. In 1988, he began working for broadcaster

as an intern. At TF1, he then became a reporter, and then a columnist. Jeanpierre covered the

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

s between

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

and

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

. Jeanpierre is nicknamed "Monsieur foot" ("Mr Football"). Between 2003 and 2008, Jeanpierre worked for French radio station

in their sports department. He specialised in football commentary. After Thierry Roland's departure from TF1 football programme

in 2004, Jeanpierre hosted the show alongside . In January 2005, they were replaced by

Thierry Gilardi Thierry Gilardi (26 July 1958 – 25 March 2008) was a French football commentator. Biography Gilardi was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Yvelines to a family of Italian ancestry. He was an avid reader of the French sports newspaper ''L'Équi ...

. After the death of Gilardi in 2008, Christian Jeanpierre returned as Téléfoot presenter. His first programme was dedicated to Gilardi. Co-presenters alongside Jeanpierre included and , and Bixente Lizarazu made some host appearances on the show. He covered every

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

international football game between 2008 and early 2016, and is remembered for his commentary of France's defeat to hosts

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

at the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

Grégoire Margotton Grégoire Margotton (born 9 November 1969) is a French sports journalist who has worked for French television channels Canal+ and TF1. Since 2018, he has been the main presenter of the TF1 football programme Téléfoot. Personal life Margott ...

was chosen ahead of Jeanpierre to present Téléfoot's coverage of

matches at

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...

, after Margotton moved from Canal+ to TF1. Jeanpierre had presented Téléfoot's coverage of the

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

and

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

tournaments, and continued to cover other matches at Euro 2016, alongside former

A.S. Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...

coach Rudi Garcia. He commentated on seven matches, including

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

against

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

, and also interviewed French manager Didier Deschamps two days after France's first match of the tournament against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. After the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

, Jeanpierre was replaced by Margotton as the main presenter of

. Jeanpierre was then demoted to only covering minor matches. He left TF1 in 2020; his last broadcast was ''Les Enfoirés, les secrets de une concert'' on 14 March. He later worked on high frequency

microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and public ...

s used by

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

and

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

. In 2021, he was working with Canal+ on a programme about The Invincibles

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

team.

Works

In 2015, Jeanpierre wrote a book ''Quarante-Huit Deux-Tiers'' (''48 and two-thirds'') about his interactions with famous people, including

Arsène Wenger Arsène Charles Ernest Wenger (; born 22 October 1949) is a French former association football, football Manager (association football), manager and football player, player who is currently serving as FIFA's Chief of Global Football Developme ...

Christian Califano Christian Califano (born 16 May 1972) is a former French rugby union player who finished his career at Gloucester Rugby. At the end of 2003, he had been capped 68 times for the France national team, which was the record for a French prop until S ...

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...

Kad Merad Kad Merad (born Kaddour Merad, ar, قدور ميراد, link=no; 27 March 1964) is a French-Algerian filmmaker and actor who has acted both on stage and on screen. Life and career Kad Merad was born in Sidi Bel Abbès, Algeria, on 27 March 1 ...

and . In 2021, Jeanpierre wrote a novel ''2026, l'année où le football deviendra américain'' (''2026, the year when football becomes America''). * Jeanpierre, Christian, ''Quarante-Huit Deux-Tiers'' (''48 and two-thirds''), , 2015 (in French) * Hourcade, Bertrand, Jeanpierre, Christian, ''Sorry, good game ! : Le dico bilingue du rugby'', La Maison du Dictionnaire, 2019 (dual language English and French) * Jeanpierre, Christian, ''2026, l'année où le football deviendra américain'' (''2026, the year when football becomes America''), Solar, 2021,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeanpierre, Christian French sports journalists 1965 births Living people Sportspeople from Haute-Loire French television presenters 21st-century French writers