The “president of the Zidane generation” and of the French Football Federation (FFF) from the time of the 1998 World Cup is dead. Claude Simonet died at the age of 92, his family confirmed to the FFF on Wednesday March 15.
The former amateur goalkeeper played several times at professional level at Le Mans and FC Nantes, before becoming president of the FFF in 1994, and directing it until 2005. In 1998, this native of Orne was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor after France’s victory at the World Cup.
In 2007, Claude Simonet was given a six-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of 10,000 euros for his role in the falsification of the accounts of the sports organization. He was accused of forgery and forgery for having concealed a deficit of 13.9 million euros for the period from 2002 to 2003, revealing, thanks to the accounting makeup of which he was suspected, only a deficit of 63,000 euros.
The end of the presidency of the former Nantes goalkeeper had been marked by criticism of a sometimes high federal lifestyle, symbolized by the episode of a bottle of romanée-conti paid for 4,800 euros by the FFF at the evening of the defeat of France against Senegal (1-0), during the 2002 World Cup.
“With the disappearance of Claude Simonet, French football loses a leader who marked the history of our sport since he was our president when we had the happiness of winning the World Cup in 1998 (…) then Euro 2000reacted the coach of the national team, Didier Deschamps, in a press release. He brought the French team back on the path to success. I will keep strong images of him, of intense happiness. »
The acting president of the FFF, Philippe Diallo, testified to his “deep love” for the former leader, and a « grand respect » for his journey. “He took the reins of the Federation when it was going through turbulence and put it back on the right track”he added.