Didier Roustan: What did the journalist and great football lover die of ?

The death of Didier Roustan, a journalist who marked the recent history of football and spent ; notably by TF1, Canal+ or L'Equipe, has been announced this Wednesday, September 11. He was 66 years old.

Didier Roustan has died. It was David Lisnard, the mayor of Cannes, a city of which the journalist had become one of the most fervent representatives, who announced it on Wednesday, September 11, 2024 on social networks. The death of Didier Roustan, known and recognized for his expertise in the world of football of which he was an unconditional lover, caused a shock within the media as well as clubs, starting with AS Cannes. Past notably on TF1 or Canal+, Didier Roustan was indeed attached to the former flagship club in the 1980s-1990s, known for having trained Patrick Vieira or Zinedine Zidane.

“I learned with emotion of the death of Didier Roustan. A passionate Cannes resident, attached to the red and whites, 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”, wrote the mayor of Cannes on his X account this Wednesday. Didier Roustan was 66 years old, he had still commentated on the Copa America football match at the beginning of the summer.

Didier Roustan's death is believed to be the result of an “illness” that he had been battling for “several weeks,” the newspaper L'Equipe reported. The journalist, who worked for the L'EquipeTV channel, where he regularly appeared on the set of the show L'Equipe du Soir, had been absent from the air “since the end of June.” “After fighting relentlessly against the disease, Didier Roustan succumbed in the night from Tuesday to Wednesday”, the newspaper on X specified.

Passionate and defender of football and its players

Born in Brazzaville on October 10, 1957, Didier Roustan became known to the general public in the mid-1980s, presenting the TF1 show Téléfoot. He was the editor-in-chief until 1989. In the following decade, he joined Canal+ then France 2 and turned to the magazine, then, in the 2000s, joined L'EquipeTV for the talk show “Enfin du foot”. He also worked at TV5 Monde.

Passionate, Didier Roustan was also a defender of football and its players. After having participated in in the 1990s at the creation of the International Association of Professional Players (IAPP), the first global football union, he will be the founder of the Foot Citoyen association in 2003. Alongside Arsène Wenger, he will develop the fight against violence and racism in football.

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11:38 – The message of the Team

After confirming the death of Didier Roustan, “who died suddenly on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday after several weeks of battling the disease”, L'Equipe paid tribute to its journalist on X. “Didier Roustan has left us. A lover and defender of beautiful football, the President for life of L'Equipe du Soir joins the football paradise and his idols. L'Equipe, upset by this disappearance, sends its most sincere condolences to the family and loved ones of Didier”, wrote the sports daily.

11:22 – A lover of the beautiful game and Diego Maradona

Didier Roustan was known for his outspokenness on set, his quips about football business and his love of the beautiful game. He had made Diego Maradona his absolute idol and had produced numerous reports in Argentina, in the streets or in the high-energy atmosphere of the Bombonera, the stadium of the Boca Juniors club.

11:18 – “Several weeks of fighting the disease”, according to L'Equipe

Didier Roustan had been associated for years with La Chaîne L'Equipe, where he regularly appeared on the set of the show L'Equipe du Soir. The newspaper stated on its website on Wednesday that the journalist “had been absent from the air since the end of June”. “After fighting relentlessly against the disease, Didier Roustan succumbed on Tuesday night at Wednesday”, specifies the newspaper which confirms the death of Didier Roustan.

11:13 – A long career in radio and television

Didier Roustan had a long career behind him in television since he had started in 1976 in the sports department of TF1 during an internship. It was on this channel that he became known and then took over the famous magazine Téléfoot in 1984. At the top, he nevertheless left the first channel to join Canal+ in the early 1990s. There, he presented an all-sports magazine, Mag Max, before joining France 2 in 1992. There, he formed an iconic duo with Eric Cantona to commentate on the 1994 World Cup in the United States. In recent years, he had also collaborated with TV5 Monde or La Chaine L'Equipe and on the radio at Europe 1 and RTL.

It was through a message published on the X account (ex-Twitter) of David Lisnard, the mayor of Cannes, that we learned this Wednesday of the death of journalist Didier Roustan. David Lisnard published a message returning to the journalist's attachment to his city and his football club, AS Cannes.