Christian Constantin (born 7 January 1957) is a Swiss architect and former goalkeeper.[1] He is also the owner and Chairman of Swiss football club FC Sion.[2] He bought the club, which had neared bankruptcy and was relegated from the Swiss Super League, in 2003.[1]
Controversies
During his ownership of FC Sion, Constantin has made upwards of 50 managerial changes and appointed himself as manager in 2008 and 2021. He once fired a head coach because of his scent and allegedly assaulted Swiss league referee Markus von Känel in 2004 during a live match broadcast.[3] In 2017, he kicked Austrian pundit and former coach Rolf Fringer down to the ground on live television during a Swiss league match for which he received a 14-month ban.[4][5]
In 2023, he fired Sion's then-manager David Bettoni at half-time during a match against Servette before forcing him to stand on the side lines for the remainder of the game.[6] In a separate episode, he verbally confronted Mario Balotelli (whom he had signed). In 2011, Constantin signed six players under a transfer ban because of what happened with Essam El-Hadary’s transfer,[7] and appeared on live TV on a horse.
Career
Yet under his presidency, the club also experienced considerable success, such as winning the Swiss Cup in 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2015.
In March 2020, Constantin sacked 9 of his FC Sion first-team players after they refused to take a pay cut after the outbreak of the COVID-19 and suspension of the Swiss Super League.[9]
In 2014, Constantin appointed his son Barthélémy as Sporting Director of FC Sion, a position he has held ever since. [10]
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