Jacques Georges (30 May 1916 – 25 February 2004) was the president of the

French Football Federation The French Football Federation ( FFF; french: Fédération Française de Football) is the governing body of football in France. It also includes the overseas departments ( Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Mayotte and Réunion), the o ...

(FFF) from 1968 until 1972 and the 4th president of

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs fo ...

(1983–1990).

Biography

In April 1989, he caused controversy by describing a minority of

Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has ...

supporters as "beasts", wrongly believing that hooliganism was the cause of the

Hillsborough disaster The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal human crush during a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in ...

which ultimately resulted in the deaths of 97 of the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

club's fans. He issued a swift apology for his comments upon discovering that hooliganism did not cause the tragedy. He died in February 2004 at the age of 88.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Georges, Jacques 1916 births 2004 deaths HEC Paris alumni Presidents of UEFA Sportspeople from Vosges (department) Presidents of the French Football Federation