Didier Roustan (10 October 1957 – 11 September 2024) was a French sports journalist who presented and commentated for multiple French football channels, and most notably worked for

L'Équipe ''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby, motorsport, and cycling. Its predecessor, '' ...

television channel. In 1984, he was the temporary main presenter of the French football programme ''

Téléfoot ''Téléfoot'' is a French football programme produced by TF1 Production for TF1. The programme was created by Pierre Cangioni in 1977 to show French Division 1 highlights. Téléfoot now covers France international matches, European club c ...

'', during which time he commentated on

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

's victory at

UEFA Euro 1984 The 1984 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in France from 12 to 27 June 1984. It was the seventh UEFA European Championship, a competition held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. At the time, only eight countries ...

Career

Roustan played youth football for

AS Cannes Association Sportive de Cannes Football (; commonly referred to as AS Cannes or simply Cannes) is a French association football club based in Cannes. The club was formed in 1902 as a sports club and currently plays in the Championnat National 2 ...

, but was suspended at the age of 17 after an altercation with a trainer. At the age of 18, Roustan joined

TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is part ...

for an

internship An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used to practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and g ...

. He was chosen for the role by Georges de Caunes. His internship was for three months, but Roustan stayed at TF1 for 13 and a half years. At the age of 21, he featured on TF1 football programme ''

''. In 1979, Roustan commentated on a match between

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, making him the youngest Frenchman to commentate on a France senior team match. Roustan was the temporary presenter of ''Téléfoot'' in June 1984, before being replaced by

Thierry Roland Thierry José Roland (; 4 August 1937 – 16 June 2012) was a French sports commentator who was France's leading football commentator for 59 years. He began his career as a radio journalist for the ORTF when he was just 16 years old. Roland the ...

. Roustan was remembered for his commentary at

, which was won by France. In 1989, Roustan joined

Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

, where he worked on the 52-minute programme ''Mag Max''. Roustan left TF1 in 1989 after a disagreement with TF1 shareholder and

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; , ), also known simply as Marseille, or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional Association football, football club based in Marseille which competes in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top f ...

president

Bernard Tapie Bernard Roger Tapie (; 26 January 1943 – 3 October 2021) was a French businessman, politician and occasional actor, singer, and TV host. He was Minister of City Affairs in the government of Pierre Bérégovoy. He was the manager of a group ...

about TF1's coverage of Marseille matches. After deciding to go travelling for three years, Roustan later joined

France 2 France 2 () is a French free-to-air public television channel. The flagship channel of France Télévisions, it broadcasts generalist programming including news, entertainment (such as dramas, films, and game shows), factual programmes, and sp ...

in 1993. He worked on a France 2 sports betting programme with

Basile Boli Basile Boli (born 2 January 1967) is a French former professional footballer who played as a defender, and currently television sports presenter. He spent the majority of his career in the 1980s and 1990s with Auxerre and Marseille, and toward ...

Emmanuel Petit Emmanuel Laurent Petit (; born 22 September 1970) is a French former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder at club level for Arsenal, Barcelona, Monaco, and Chelsea. He represented France at international level in two FI ...

and

Louise Ekland Louise Ekland (born 22 July 1978) is a British television presenter based in France. After presenting on France Télévisions, BFM TV and the M6 Group, she joined France 3 in 2017. She obtained French citizenship in 2024. Television career Fr ...

. From 2004 to 2006, Roustan worked as a commentator for ''Foot!'',

TV5Monde TV5Monde (), formerly known as TV5, is a French public television network, broadcasting several channels of French-language programming. It is an approved participant member of the European Broadcasting Union. The network is available across ...

's football programme. He commentated on

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

, and French national football matches. Roustan also worked as a radio commentator for

RTL RTL may refer to: Media * RTL Group, a European TV, radio, and production company *** List of RTL Group's television stations (including part-owned channels) *** List of RTL Group's radio stations ** RTL Lëtzebuerg, usually referred to simply a ...

for many years, before leaving the station in 2019. He then worked for

TV channel. Roustan said that fellow sports journalist Jean Raynal was his inspiration. Roustan was nicknamed ''

Che Guevara Ernesto "Che" Guevara (14th May 1928 – 9 October 1967) was an Argentines, Argentine Communist revolution, Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and Military theory, military theorist. A majo ...

'', as he was sceptical of the role of money in football. Aside from commentating and presenting, Roustan set up a monthly football magazine called ''United Colours of Football'' in 1993. In 1995, he helped to set up International Association of Professional Footballers, the first world union of footballers, working alongside

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona Franco (30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional association football, football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two ...

and

Eric Cantona Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona (; ; born 24 May 1966) is a French former professional footballer who is currently an actor. In his football career Eric Cantona was a physically strong, hard-working and tenacious player. He combined technical skill a ...

. Roustan suggested to Cantona and Maradona that each of them should contribute $7,000 to support the new union, and the union started with 48 members including Cantona, Maradona, and

Gianluca Vialli Gianluca Vialli (; 9 July 1964 – 5 January 2023) was an Italian football player and manager who played as a striker. Vialli started his club career at his hometown club Cremonese in 1980, where he made 105 league appearances and scored 23 g ...

. In 1997, Roustan organised an International Association of Professional Footballers charity match between Europe and Rest of the World. The match featured Cantona, Maradona,

René Higuita José René Higuita Zapata (; born 27 August 1966) is a Colombian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He was nicknamed ''El Loco'' ("The Madman") for his high-risk ' sweeper-keeper' playing style and his flair for the dr ...

Gus Poyet Gustavo Augusto Poyet Domínguez (; born 15 November 1967) is a Uruguayan professional football manager and former footballer who is the manager of K League 1 club Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. Poyet played as a midfielder and began his career with s ...

, Rubén Sosa, and

Giovane Élber Élber de Souza (born 23 July 1972), commonly known as Giovane Élber, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a striker. A prolific goalscorer in various clubs, Élber's career was mostly spent in Germany, where he repre ...

. The union ended in 1998, in part due to the recreation of FIFPro. Roustan also created the ''Foot Citoyen'' social project, which was supported by

Arsène Wenger Arsène Charles Ernest Wenger (born 22 October 1949) is a French former association football, football Manager (association football), manager and football player, player who is currently serving as FIFA's Chief of Global Football Development. ...

. Some charity events for ''Foot Citoyen'' were attended by

Zinedine Zidane Zinedine Yazid Zidane (; ; ''Zineddin Lyazid Zidan''; ; born 23 June 1972), popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as an attacking midfi ...

. Roustan also ran a blog and weekly podcast called ''Roustan Foot''. Roustan's last commentary match was the

2024 Copa América The 2024 Copa América was the 48th edition of the Copa América, the quadrennial international men's association football, soccer championship organized by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. The tournament was held in the United Sta ...

match between

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Personal life and death

Didier Roustan was born on 10 October 1957 in

Brazzaville Brazzaville () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Republic of the Congo. Administratively, it is a Departments of the Republic of the Congo, department and a Communes of the Republic of the Congo, commune. Constituting t ...

French Equatorial Africa French Equatorial Africa (, or AEF) was a federation of French colonial territories in Equatorial Africa which consisted of Gabon, French Congo, Ubangi-Shari, and Chad. It existed from 1910 to 1958 and its administration was based in Brazzav ...

(now

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo), is a country located on the western coast of Central ...

). His mother was from

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

, and worked for

Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse (; AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency. With 2,400 employees of 100 nationalities, AFP has an editorial presence in 260 c ...

. Roustan grew up in

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

, France. Roustan died of

liver cancer Liver cancer, also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy, is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary in which the cancer starts in the liver, or it can be liver metastasis, or secondar ...

in Paris on 11 September 2024, at the age of 66. Following his death, L'Équipe chose to dedicate an evening of broadcasting to him, including showing a re-run of the

semi-final between France and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

which featured his commentary.

Honours

In 2015, Roustan was awarded a ''Prix de la Carriere'' (lifetime achievement award) by the .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roustan, Didier 1957 births 2024 deaths French sports journalists Sportspeople from Brazzaville Sportspeople from Cannes French television presenters Central African Republic expatriate sportspeople in France French people of Martiniquais descent Television presenters from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Deaths from liver cancer in France 20th-century French journalists 21st-century French journalists 20th-century French sportsmen Association football commentators