Editing Jules Rimet

{{short description|French football administrator (1873–1956)}}
{{for|the trophy|Jules Rimet Trophy}}
{{EngvarB|date=January 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Jules Rimet
| image = Jules Rimet 1933.jpg
| caption = Rimet in 1933
| order = 3rd
| office =  President of FIFA
| term_start = 1 March 1921
| term_end = 21 June 1954
| predecessor = [[Daniel Burley Woolfall]]
| successor = [[Rodolphe William Seeldrayers]]
| order1 = 
| office1 =  President of [[French Football Federation|FFF]]
| term_start1 = 1919
| term_end1 = 1942
| predecessor1 = 
| successor1 = Henri Jevain 
| term_start2 = 1944
| term_end2 = 1949
| predecessor2 = Henri Jevain
| successor2 = [[Emmanuel Gambardella]]
| birth_date = {{birth date|1873|10|14|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Theuley]], Franche-Comté, France
| death_date = {{death date and age|1956|10|16|1873|10|14|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Suresnes]], Île-de-France, France
| birthname = 
| spouse= 
| children= 
| alma_mater = 
| residence = 
| profession = Football administrator 
|signature =Jules Rimet Signature.png
}}
 
'''Jules Rimet''' ({{IPA|fr|ʒyl ʁimɛ}}; 14 October 1873 – 16 October 1956) was a French [[Association football|football]] administrator who was the [[List of Presidents of FIFA|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, and again from 1944 to 1949.

On Rimet's initiative, the first [[FIFA World Cup]] was held in [[1930 FIFA World Cup|1930]]. The [[FIFA World Cup Trophy#Jules Rimet Trophy|Jules Rimet Trophy]] was named in his honour. He also founded French club [[Red Star F.C.|Red Star]], known as Red Star Club Français upon its creation in 1897.

==Early life==
Jules Rimet was born in 1873 in the commune of [[Theuley]], in the department of [[Haute-Saône]] 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 Saint-Ouen|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. 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 Rimet, and sparked his efforts to promote these views.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://catholicherald.co.uk/the-catholic-visionary-who-founded-the-world-cup/ | title=The Catholic visionary who founded the World Cup|first=Michael |last=Duggan|website=[[Catholic Herald]]| date=14 June 2018|access-date=30 January 2023}}</ref>

==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 [[Football at the 1908 Summer Olympics|amateur tournament]] as part of the [[1908 Summer Olympics]].<ref name=indykicked2006/>

[[File:Jules Rimet in 1920.jpg|thumb|180px|Jules Rimet in 1920.]]

The [[First World War]] put Rimet's and FIFA's plans on hold. Rimet served in the [[French Army]] as an officer and was decorated with a [[Croix de Guerre]].<ref name=indykicked2006/>

Following the war in 1919, he became President of the [[French Football Federation]], and then President of FIFA on 1 March 1921.<ref name=indykicked2006/><ref name=fifahistmoreassoc>{{cite web|title=History of FIFA - More associations follow|url=https://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/history/fifa/historyfifa3.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071121133913/http://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/history/fifa/historyfifa3.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 November 2007|publisher=FIFA|access-date=10 April 2012}}</ref> He would hold the post until 1954 becoming the longest reigning President to date,<ref name=longest>{{cite news|last=Murray|first=Scott|title=Which Fifa presidents have served longer than Sepp Blatter?|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2011/mar/23/knowledge-fifa-president-sepp-blatter|access-date=10 April 2012|newspaper=The Guardian|date=23 March 2011}}</ref> taking the membership of the organisation from twelve up to 85 nations, despite losing the membership of the [[English Football Association|English]], [[Welsh Football Association|Welsh]] and [[Scottish Football Association]]s during the early years. After taking up the post he moved once again to start a global tournament, but was opposed by the amateur football associations and [[Pierre de Coubertin]], founder of the [[International Olympic Committee]].<ref name=indykicked2006/>

===The World Cup===
In 1928 FIFA, under Rimet's leadership, went forward with plans for a "[[1930 FIFA World Cup|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. Rimet travelled to Uruguay for the World Cup on [[SS Conte Verde|SS ''Conte Verde'']] along with the competing European teams,<ref name=fifafirstwc /> all the while carrying the trophy in his bag.<ref name=indykicked2006>{{cite news|title=Jules Rimet: The man who kicked off the World Cup|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/jules-rimet-the-man-who-kicked-off-the-world-cup-481145.html|first=John |last=Lichfield|
access-date=10 April 2012|newspaper=The Independent|date=5 June 2006}}</ref>

However Rimet's decisions on where to host the first few World Cups led to criticism: European nations complained about the 1930 World Cup because players would be out of domestic tournaments for three months. This was the key reason why, of the European nations, only four ([[France national football team|France]], [[Belgium national football team|Belgium]], [[Romania national football team|Romania]] and [[Yugoslavia national football team|Yugoslavia]]) accepted invitations to send teams to compete, and even then, they only did so because of Rimet's influence.<ref name=fifafirstwc>{{cite web|title=History of FIFA - The first FIFA World Cup|url=https://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/history/fifa/historyfifa4.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071105015327/http://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/history/fifa/historyfifa4.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 November 2007|publisher=FIFA|access-date=10 April 2012}}</ref> The [[1934 World Cup|following World Cup]] was held in Italy under the [[Kingdom of Italy under Fascism (1922–1943)|Fascist rule]] of [[Benito Mussolini]], which was used to promote the regime, something that Rimet was accused of ignoring.<ref name=indykicked2006/>

Following the [[World War II|Second World War]], the British football associations agreed to take part from the [[1950 FIFA World Cup]] onwards, where Rimet himself handed over the trophy to the triumphant [[Uruguay national football team|Uruguayan team]] when Uruguay won the tournament for the second time.<ref>{{cite news|title=Uruguay world's champion|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/1950/jul/16/worldcup2006.sport|access-date=10 April 2012|newspaper=The Guardian|date=16 July 1950}}</ref> Rimet's efforts in establishing the tournament earned him a nomination for the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] in 1956.<ref name=indykicked2006/>

==Later life and legacy==
Rimet died in [[Suresnes]], France in 1956, two days after his 83rd birthday. In 2004, he was posthumously made a member of the [[FIFA Order of Merit]], which was collected by his grandson Yves Rimet. He is credited with being the inventor of the World Cup.<ref>{{cite news|title=Sheffield FC are Real's equals at FIFA Congress|url=http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2004/5/22/sports/8039462&sec=sports|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120717054547/http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2004/5/22/sports/8039462&sec=sports|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 July 2012|access-date=10 April 2012|newspaper=The Star|date=22 May 2004}}</ref>

The [[Jules Rimet Trophy|original World Cup trophy]] was named the Jules Rimet Trophy in his honour. [[1966 theft of the Jules Rimet Trophy|It was stolen]] just prior to the [[1966 World Cup]] in England, but was found by the dog [[Pickles (dog)|Pickles]].<ref name=indykicked2006/> [[Brazil national football team|Brazil]] won the tournament for the third time at the [[1970 FIFA World Cup|1970 World Cup]], and were awarded the trophy permanently. [[1983 theft of the Jules Rimet Trophy|It was stolen again]], in [[Rio de Janeiro]] in 1983; while it is believed to have been melted down by the thieves, there is no conclusive proof of this. The [[Brazilian Football Confederation]] subsequently had a replica of the trophy made.<ref name=fifarimetcup>{{cite web|title=Jules Rimet Cup |url=https://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/history/worldcup/julesrimettrophy.html |publisher=FIFA |access-date=10 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130318114431/http://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/history/worldcup/julesrimettrophy.html |archive-date=18 March 2013 }}</ref> Rumours of the various disappearances of the trophy, and its final resting place, still persist.<ref name=questft>{{cite news|last=Kuper|first=Simon|title=My quest for football's Holy Grail|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/b18303ca-633e-11e1-9245-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1rfospela|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210221238/https://www.ft.com/content/b18303ca-633e-11e1-9245-00144feabdc0#axzz1rfospela|archive-date=10 December 2022|url-access=subscription|access-date=10 April 2012|newspaper=The Financial Times|date=3 March 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> A statue of Rimet stands in [[Theuley]] in the middle of a [[Penalty area|penalty box]], complete with goal.<ref name=indykicked2006/>

Rimet was portrayed by [[Academy Award]]-nominated French actor [[Gérard Depardieu]] in the 2014 biographical drama ''[[United Passions]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/02/sports/fifa-film-an-epic-fantasy.html|title=FIFA Film: An Epic Fantasy|last=Barry|first=Dan|date=1 June 2015|work=The New York Times|access-date=10 August 2017|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
* Jean-Yves Guillain, ''La Coupe du monde de football, l'œuvre de Jules Rimet'', Éditions Amphora, 1998
{{Commonscat|Jules Rimet}}
*{{Portal-inline|Biography}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rimet, Jules}}
[[Category:1873 births]]
[[Category:1956 deaths]]
[[Category:Burials at the Cimetière parisien de Bagneux]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Legion of Honour]]
[[Category:Founders of association football institutions]]
[[Category:French football chairmen and investors]]
[[Category:French military personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:French Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Presidents of the French Football Federation]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Haute-Saône]]
[[Category:Presidents of FIFA|Presidents of FIFA]]