Jules Rimet
Jules Rimet (French pronunciation: [ʒyl ʁimɛ]; 14 October 1873 – 16 October 1956) was a French football administrator who was the 3rd President of FIFA, serving from 1921 to 1954. He is FIFA's longest-serving president, in office for 33 years. He also served as the president of the French Football Federation from 1919 to 1942.
On Rimet's initiative, the first FIFA World Cup was held in 1930. The Jules Rimet Trophy was named in his honour. He also founded the French football club Red Star Saint-Ouen.
Early life
Jules Rimet was born in 1873 in eastern France. His father was a grocer, and the family moved to Paris in 1884 when Jules was eleven years old. He became a lawyer, and in 1897 he started a sports club called Red Star which, due to Rimet's ideals, did not discriminate against its members on the basis of class. One of the sports played at the club was football, which was becoming popular.
Football and FIFA
Rimet was involved in the founding of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (International Federation of Association Football, commonly abbreviated to FIFA) in 1904, and, while the fledgling organisation had plans for a global professional tournament, it instead was involved in running an amateur tournament as part of the 1908 Summer Olympics.
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