Julio Grondona
| Julio Grondona | |
|---|---|
 Julio Grondona at France-Argentina game |
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| Born | Julio Humberto Grondona September 18, 1931 Avellaneda, Buenos Aires |
| Nationality | Argentine |
| Occupation | Argentine football administrator |
Julio Humberto Grondona (born September 18, 1931) is an Argentine football executive. He has served as president of the Argentine Football Association (Asociación del Fútbol Argentino) since 1979. He also serves as Senior Vice-President of FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association).[1]
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Club Atlético Independiente
His campaign as leader of the Independiente began in 1962, when he was called to chair the subcommittee of professional football, in that role championships got the first division in 1963, the Libertadores Cup in 1964 and 1965 and the 1967 National Championship in 1970, after the defeat of the Red List in the election of the club, away from the institution to return to it in 1976, after winning the election defeating the ruling José Epelbóim, the then secretary of the club and sport responsible for professional football.
Grondona served as president of Club Atlético Independiente, which is a fan club, where he won the National championships 1977 in Córdoba, facing a historic consecration Talleres, with eight players and National Champion 1978, in the final against River Plate. in 1979, and from that position he was picked to succeed Huracán's David Bracuto as head of AFA, immediately after Argentina's 1978 FIFA World Cup win.
Under Grondona's leadership, Argentina reached two World Cup finals (1986-Won and 1990-Second), three Olympic finals (1996-Silver, 2004-Gold and 2008-Gold) and won six under-20 titles (1979, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2005 and 2007).
[edit] Controversy
Grondona caused controversy in 2003 when, in response to a journalist's question about referee standards in Argentina, he said: "I do not believe a Jew can ever be a referee at this level. It's hard work and, you know, Jews don't like hard work."[2] On May 31, 2011, in an interview with German press, when asked about who he voted for to receive the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosting rights Grondona said, "Yes, I voted for Qatar, because a vote for the US would be like a vote for England, and that is not possible [...] But with the English bid I said: Let us be brief. If you give back the Falkland Islands, which belong to us, you will get my vote. They then became sad and left." [3]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
The Guardian [1]
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