Journalist Didier Roustan died this Wednesday at the age of 66 from a recently detected cancer. He had been working on French television for over 40 years.
Didier Roustan was a specialist journalist known to the public for over 40 years. He died at the age of 66 following a serious illness.
“He had invented a new television language around football”
Former presenter of Téléfoot on TF1, he also worked for Antenne 2 (currently France 2) and Canal +. In recent years, he regularly appeared on L’Equipe in the show “L’Equipe du Soir”, in a role of “president for life”, he the lover of the beautiful game.
Passionate about football, Didier Roustan trained with the professionals at AS Cannes, his city’s club, when he was 16. David Lisnard, current mayor of Cannes, paid tribute to him this Wednesday: “I learned with emotion of the death of Didier Roustan. A passionate Cannes resident, attached to the red and white, he loved football, above all the beautiful game and the beautiful stories. He had invented a new television language around the round ball, filled with positive spirit and poetry.”
Having left TF1 in 1989, two years after the channel was privatised, Didier Roustan took part in the creation of the Coupe de la Ligue during his time at Antenne 2. With the channel, he also commentated on Euro 1992 with Michel Hidalgo and the 1994 World Cup with Eric Cantona.
Committed, Didier Roustan has known the greatest. He even created in 1995, with Eric Cantona and Diego Maradona, the International Association of Professional Players (AIFP), the first global footballers’ union. In 2003, he founded the association Foot Citoyen with Arsène Wenger, aimed at fighting against violence and racism in football.