Naea Tommy Irving Bennett (born 8 July 1977) is a

French Polynesia )Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze") , anthem = , song_type = Regional anthem , song = " Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui" , image_map = French Polynesia on the globe (French Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of Frenc ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

, politician, and

Cabinet Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

. He plays as a striker for

AS Pirae Association Sportive Pirae is a football club from Pirae in Tahiti. They are one of the most successful teams in Tahiti having won the Tahiti Division Fédérale nine times. They are also the first French Polynesian team to have reached the fi ...

and also represents the

Tahiti national beach soccer team Tahiti national beach soccer team represents Tahiti or French Polynesia in international beach soccer competitions and is controlled by the FTF and the FFF, the governing body for football in Tahiti. In contrast to the fortunes of the associ ...

. He is son of

Erroll Bennett Erroll Bennett (born 7 May 1950) is a former Tahitian footballer, who spent most of his career with AS Central Sport. Bennett placed fifteenth in a 1999 poll by International Federation of Football History & Statistics to find the Player of the Ce ...

, a former Tahitian footballer who was runner-up at 1973 and 1980 OFC Nations Cup.

Football career

In 2002, Naea Bennett took part in 4 qualifying matches for the World Cup with the Tahiti team. While playing for AS Pirae, Bennett joined the Tahiti beach soccer team, and competed in both the 2011 and 2015 World Cups. In all he took part in 8 matches for as many wins as losses and 5 goals scored. In October 2013 he was appointed a knight of the

Order of Tahiti Nui The Order of Tahiti Nui was established on 5 June 1996 by the Assembly of French Polynesia to reward distinguished merit and achievements in the service to French Polynesia. History The Order of Tahiti Nui was established June 5, 1996 by resolu ...

. Bennett is a

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

and refuses to play football on Sundays. In 2015, he refused to play in the 2015 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup final due to his religious beliefs. In 2018 he was appointed interim head coach of the

Tahiti national football team The Tahiti national football team ( French: ''Équipe de football de Tahiti'') represents French Polynesia and is controlled by the Fédération Tahitienne de Football. The team consists of a selection of players from French Polynesia, not jus ...

Political career

In February 2022 he was appointed to the cabinet of

Édouard Fritch Winfred Édouard Tereori Fritch (born 4 January 1952) is a French politician who has served as President of French Polynesia since 2014. He previously presided over the Assembly of French Polynesia on three occasions: from April 2007 to February ...

as Minister of Youth, Crime Prevention and Sports.

International goals

References

External links

* * 1977 births Living people French Polynesian footballers Tahitian beach soccer players Tahiti international footballers Association football forwards A.S. Pirae players French Polynesian Latter Day Saints Tahiti national football team managers 1996 OFC Nations Cup players 2000 OFC Nations Cup players 2002 OFC Nations Cup players Recipients of the Order of Tahiti Nui Government ministers of French Polynesia {{Tahiti-footy-bio-stub