Claude Bez (November 4, 1940 – January 26, 1999), former
Bordeaux soccer team chairman, was an iconic 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 department
The overseas departments and regions of France (french: départements et régions d'outre-mer, ; ''DROM'') are departments of France that are outside metropolitan France, the European part of France. They have exactly the same status as mainlan ...
s.
In his youth he played football for
Coqs Rouges.
On April 4, 1959, he won the U20 Gironde Cup against
Girondins de Bordeaux
Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux (), commonly referred to as Girondins de Bordeaux ( oc, Girondins de Bordèu) or simply Bordeaux, is a French professional football club based in the city of Bordeaux in Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The ...
. He played
full-back, was thin and sported a mustache. He left Coqs Rouges for
Villenave-d'Ornon
Villenave d’Ornon (; Gascon: ''Vilanava d’Ornon'') is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France.
It is the fourth-largest suburb of the city of Bordeaux, and is located to its south side. Thus, it i ...
, 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
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...
,
1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
and
1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...
), two
French Cups against
Marseille in
1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal ente ...
(2-1 after extra time) and in
1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...
(2-0), and an uninterrupted run of participation in the
European Cup
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
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
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
and
1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...
.
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
*
Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux
References and notes
References
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bez, Claude
1940 births
1999 deaths
French football chairmen and investors
Sportspeople from Bordeaux