Jules Rimet was a French football administrator who was the 3rd President of FIFA, serving from 1921 to 1954.
16 Facts About Jules Rimet
2.
Jules Rimet is FIFA's longest-serving president, in office for 33 years.
3.
Jules Rimet served as the president of the French Football Federation from 1919 to 1942.
4.
Jules Rimet founded French club Red Star, known as Red Star Club Francais upon its creation in 1897.
5.
Jules Rimet was born in 1873 in the commune of Theuley, in the department of Haute-Saone in eastern France.
6.
Jules Rimet's father was a grocer, and the family moved to Paris in 1884 when Jules was eleven years old.
7.
Jules Rimet 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.
8.
When he was 17, Pope Leo XIII released his encyclical on the dignity of work, Rerum novarum, which would have a profound effect on the young Catholic Jules Rimet, and sparked his efforts to promote these views.
9.
Jules Rimet was involved in the founding of the Federation Internationale de Football Association 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.
10.
Jules Rimet served in the French Army as an officer and was decorated with a Croix de Guerre.
11.
Jules Rimet would hold the post until 1954 becoming the longest reigning President to date, taking the membership of the organisation from twelve up to 85 nations, despite losing the membership of the English, Welsh and Scottish Football Associations during the early years.
12.
In 1928 FIFA, under Jules Rimet's leadership, went forward with plans for a "World Cup" which was held in Uruguay due to the nature of the professional game in South America, and in part because the Uruguayan Football Association offered to pay all travel costs.
13.
Jules Rimet travelled to Uruguay for the World Cup on SS Conte Verde along with the competing European teams, all the while carrying the trophy in his bag.
14.
Jules Rimet died in Suresnes, France in 1956, two days after his 83rd birthday.
15.
Jules Rimet is credited with being the inventor of the World Cup.
16.
Jules Rimet was portrayed by Academy Award-nominated French actor Gerard Depardieu in the 2014 biographical drama United Passions.