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Journalist
Passionate about sport, cinema and television (on screen and behind) since his childhood, Bernard has been a journalist for 10 Sport since 2018. More skilled with the keyboard in hand than with the ball on his feet, he decides to mainly cover a beloved sport, criticized and hated at the same time (football) and a sport that is not one (wrestling).
Long before Nasser Al-Khelaïfi and Qatar, PSG was notably managed by the Canal+ channel and one of its flagship journalists: Michel Denisot. The latter, who arrived in 1991, admits having had to quickly adapt to his new position, encouraging him in particular to seek the help of Michel Platini for advice.
PSG did not wait for Qatar to revise its ambitions upwards. In 1991, when its finances were in the red, the capital club was bought by Canal+then broadcaster of Ligue 1. A strategic decision for the encrypted channel, wishing to increase the attractiveness of the Championship that it was broadcasting at the time. “When PSG was in financial difficulty and the Paris town hall with Jacques Chirac said: “We will no longer fill the hole, we must find a buyer or a financier”, the leaders of the time toured the big boxes and arrived at Canalremembered Michel Denisotinterviewed by RMC. The championship was a fantastic soap opera for subscribers. PSG was an important character. It was good to keep a major character to enhance the championship ».
“It was a surprise”
The journalist will then become president without really expecting it. “ I wasn't in the discussions at all. Then André Rousselet held a management meeting with people who had been there from the start like me. There were ten of us around the table. Who will chair? Charles (Biétry) wanted it but he was a sports patron. Ethically, this was not possible. Then it came to my turn. André Rousselet said: “It would be nice if it was you.” I told him, “I’ll think about it.” He said to me: “If I were you, I wouldn’t think.” I came home in the evening, I told my wife: “I am president of PSG.” It was a surprise », recognizes today Michel Denisot.
“I called Platini. I said to him: “Who would you hire for such and such a position?” »
To launch this new project, a very prestigious name is then requested by the young president of the PSG. « I was president of Châteauroux which had just moved up to Ligue 2 so I had a little idea. But after two days, I quickly realized as president of PSG that like any journalist, I thought I knew when in fact I did not knowestimated Michel Denisot. I learned quickly by surrounding myself well. I called Platini. I said to him: “Who would you hire for such and such a position?” He gave me two names (Jean-Michel Moutier as sports director and Jean-François Domergue for recruitment). I took them. We hired Artur Jorge who had won the Champions League (with Porto in 1987). I surrounded myself with strength to learn. In football, players leave the training center, coaches get diplomas but there is nothing for presidents. We learn by making as few mistakes as possible. » Michel Denisot remains to this day the only president of PSG to have got their hands on a European Cup, in 1996 with the Cup of Cups.
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