Barthélémy Constantin: “The truth? It’s because I don’t give a damn!”

Sports director of FC Sion for ten years now, Barthélémy Constantin spoke to blue Sport. The almost 30-year-old from Valais looked back on his life in the shadow of his father, Christian Constantin, as well as his failures with the Valais club which made him grow up.

Being the son of a colorful personality is not easy. Barthélémy Constantin knows this better than anyone, he who had to learn to live and grow in the midst of criticism and mockery linked to his father, Christian Constantin.

“The truth? It’s because I don’t give a damn,” admits the 29-year-old from Valais in an interview with blue Sport. “The reality is that I had to build a shell for myself when I was between 14 and 16 years old. I never let it happen. To be honest, I even fought a few times.” His father ended up advising him to “put all that aside.”

Promoted to the position of sporting director of FC Sion in 2014 at just 19 years old, “Barth” also had to learn from his sporting failures to gain ground. The episode with the failed recruitment of Mario Balotelli is the perfect example.

“Today, there are no regrets about the work that was done for him, because we put all our heart into it,” he believes. “In life, you have to give everything. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. We will learn from it and we can continue to move forward, gain experience and continue to grow.”

“I was getting lit left and right”

At the end of this same season, the Valais club also had to face relegation to the Challenge League. But with the desire to start again on a healthy basis, Barthélémy Constantin managed to bring his team back into the elite of Swiss football after only one year of purgatory. However, few people were convinced by his project at the time.

“There is not a person who believed me in Switzerland! I was being lit up left and right by journalists. They all said to each other: ‘Barth fell on his head, he spun.’ But the truth is that exactly what I said happened at the start of the season happened. It bore fruit,” he relishes.

“I love this club more than anything in the world”

For the man who will celebrate his 30th birthday next November, it is impossible to describe the love he has had for FC Sion since his childhood. “Just talking about it gives me chills because I love this club more than anything in the world,” admits the leader of the red and white team, who is having a convincing start to the year.

Sixth in the standings after seven days of Super League, Sion will try to continue their good momentum this weekend. Didier Tholot’s men travel to Letzigrund on Sunday (live from 2 p.m. on blue Sport) to challenge co-leader FC Zurich.