Jean-Claude Blanc (; born 9 April 1963) is a French general manager and former marketing executive of

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

and former CEO of

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

. Blanc is the CEO of INEOS Sport, and recently was one of the Board of Directors at

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. He is part of the

European Club Association The European Club Association (ECA) is an organization that is officially recognised by both UEFA and FIFA as the sole, independent body for football clubs within Europe. History Formed on the merge of the G-14 group with the European Club Fo ...

(ECA) and UEFA’s Club Competition (UCC) Board of Administration.

Education

Blanc holds an International Business and Marketing degree from Skema Business School and an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

Career

Blanc is an experienced sports marketing executive. He managed the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

, the ( Winter Games), the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

, the Paris Dakar, the

French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...

, the

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and contested annually between teams from over 150 competing countries, making it the world's largest annual ...

and has been the Chairman and CEO of

. Between 1987 and 1992, Blanc was Sales and Marketing/Opening and Closing Ceremony Director for the Albertville Olympic Games in France, and worked very close to Jean-Claude Killy, chairman of the Organizing Committee. After earning his

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

, Blanc then became the CEO between 1994 and 2000 of Amauy Sport Organization (ASO), a branch of a media company owning and operating the main sporting events in France in cycling, motor racing, and athletics (Tour de France, Paris/

Roubaix Roubaix ( , ; ; ; ) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, depar ...

, the Paris Dakar race,

Paris Marathon The Paris Marathon () is an annual marathon (sport), marathon hosted by the city of Paris, France. It is the largest running event in France in terms of finishers and is typically among the five largest marathons in the world. The marathon begi ...

, etc.) Blanc boosted ASO's revenues and international reach as well as created an all news TV network, L'Equipe TV. Between 2001 and June 2006, Blanc was CEO of the French Tennis Association and, as such, was the manager in charge of organizing the French Open (Roland-Garros), the Paris Master Series and the Davis Cup/Fed Cup tennis events when staged in France. During his tenure, the French Open added an extra weekend of Grand Slam tennis by starting the tournament on a Sunday instead of a Monday. Before becoming Chairman of the Board of Juventus in October 2009, Blanc was brought in as a board member during the club's worst period in history, when it was relegated to

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

, due to the '' Calciopoli'' scandal. Blanc also worked on the new Juventus arena. This arena, along with a 35,000 square meters mall, is the first to be built in Italy since 1990, and is the only one privately owned by an Italian football club. Blanc has stated many times that the stadium is the future for Juventus, a major revenue-booster and the new soul of the team. On 19 May 2010 Blanc left his role as Chairman of the Board of Juventus to Andrea Agnelli, son of former Chairman Umberto Agnelli. Blanc retained his role as General Manager and CEO. Agnelli's response to Blanc's confirmed responsibilities was, "He will take care of the operations management of the club at 360 degrees and focus mainly on the development of revenues, managed our international relations with

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

and

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

as well as follow up on the stadium project strategic for the future of the club." On 11 May 2011, in line with his working contract and in agreement with the owners of the club, Blanc released his executive powers to the Board of Juventus, and resigned as CEO. Instead, he became a member of the Board of Directors. However, Blanc tendered his resignation and left the Board of Directors post on 15 October 2011. On 7 October 2011, Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), the owner of

(PSG), announced that Jean-Claude Blanc was appointed as the club's Deputy Chief Executive Officer. Considered one of the leading figures in sports management in France, he had authority over all non-sporting matters: stadium management, external relations, sponsorship, merchandise, and finances. He increased the club's budget fivefold in 4 years. He effectively served as a co-President, initiating major projects, such as the renovation of the

Parc des Princes The Parc des Princes (, ) is an all-seater stadium, all-seater football stadium in Paris, France. It is located in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin (P ...

and the construction of the new training centre. On 26 December 2022, Paris Saint-Germain announced in a statement that Jean-Claude Blanc would leave his position at the club. On 27 December 2022, Blanc was announced as CEO of INEOS Sport, tasked with overseeing all of INEOS sports portfolio including Football, Formula 1, Cycling, Sailing, Rugby and Running. Shortly after his appointment, INEOS publicly announced its entry into the formal process of purchasing shares in

, the club that INEOS owner, Jim Ratcliffe, has supported since childhood. On 24 December 2023, Manchester United announced that INEOS Sport had acquired a quarter of the club's shares, in order to gain control of sporting operations. Jean-Claude Blanc was then appointed interim director of Manchester United. He subsequently maintained a strategic role with the club, as head of international football relations and special advisor to the board of directors.

References

External links

Juventus Football Club – official websiteProfile
on Juventus.com https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c24qzqqvdr5o Manchester United role terminated {{DEFAULTSORT:Blanc, Jean-Claude Juventus FC chairmen and investors Harvard Business School alumni Living people 1963 births People from Chambéry French expatriates in the United States French expatriates in Italy Juventus FC directors French football chairmen and investors Paris Saint-Germain FC non-playing staff