Christian Constantin (born 7 January 1957) is a Swiss architect. He is the owner and president of Swiss football club FC Sion. He bought the club, which had previously neared bankruptcy and was relegated from the

Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 season ...

, in 2003. During his ownership of FC Sion, Constantin has employed over forty head coaches and incurred a transfer ban from

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

due to the signing of Essam El-Hadary. This transfer ban then led to the club being expelled from the

2011–12 UEFA Europa League The 2011–12 UEFA Europa League was the third season of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 41st edition overall including its predecessor, the UEFA Cup. It began on 30 June 2011 with t ...

as players signed during the transfer embargo were used in competition. Yet under his presidency, the club also experienced considerable success, such as its

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup tournament that has been organised annually since 1925–26 by the Swiss Football Association. Since 1999 the winner earns the chance to qualify for the UEFA Europa League or the UEFA Europa Conference L ...

victories in 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2015. Constantin was formerly a goalkeeper who played for Neuchâtel Xamax (1977–1979), FC Lugano (1979–1980), FC Monthey (1981–1982) and

FC Martigny-Sports Football Club Martigny-Sports, is a football club from Martigny, Kanton Wallis, in Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal insti ...

(1983–1984). On 12 October 2017, Constantin was given a 14-month ban for striking former Switzerland coach Rolf Fringer. In March 2020, Constantin sacked 9 of his FC Sion first-team players after they refused to take a pay cut after the outbreak of the

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the com ...

and suspension of the Swiss Super League.

References

External links

* 1957 births Living people People from Martigny Swiss men's footballers Association football goalkeepers Neuchâtel Xamax FCS players FC Monthey players FC Lugano players FC Martigny-Sports players Swiss architects Swiss football managers Swiss football chairmen and investors FC Sion managers Sportspeople from Valais {{Switzerland-footy-goalkeeper-stub