Claude Bez
Claude Bez, 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 departments.
In his youth he played football for Coqs Rouges. On April 4, 1959, he won the U20 Gironde Cup against Girondins de Bordeaux. He played full-back, was thin and sported a mustache. He left Coqs Rouges for Villenave-d'Ornon, 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, two French Cups against Marseille in 1986 and in 1987, and an uninterrupted run of participation in the European Cup 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 and 1987.
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.
He resigned in 1990-91 after being charged with fraud and died of a heart attack in 1999.
