This weekend, Pierre Rabadan has multiplied the tweets. To congratulate PSG and PFC on their victory in a friendly match. To immortalize your first trips as an elected official on Parisian sports facilities.
“I really believe in the development of sports, especially thanks to the prospect of the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024, breathes the former rugby player, originally from Aix-en-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône). Only, if we say that sport carries values, that it has virtues in terms of integration and health, for the moment it does not really translate into public policies. "
Pierre Rabadan may be polite and discreet - "He is not a great speaker, but his word is effective", tempers the former player of the Stade Français, Sylvain Marconnet - he also likes to distribute the shots. "In the field, he would often put his head where the others did not dare to set foot," continues Marconnet. One day, we counted his stitches. 300 on the face during his career. I called him Muzzle, because it was often his nose that charged! "
"His appointment was obvious"
On July 3, the day of his 40th birthday, Pierre Rabadan became deputy to the mayor of Paris, in charge of sport and the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. but which does not surprise Max Guazzini, the former president of the Stade Français, who had recruited Rabadan in 1998, when he was still a junior.
“His appointment was obvious. For this kind of position, you have to know the sport in Paris and not just rugby. And it is. Since the deconfinement, he has toured all the sports sites of the capital, he is really very involved, says the former leader. He is the man for the job, even if we do not share the same political ideas. "
“It's impressive to be in charge of this field in the largest city in France which will host the Olympic Games, says Sylvain Marconnet. I saw him at the start when he joined the municipal team. He was still looking for himself, he was not really fulfilled. Apparently, he found himself ... "
"I have always had this need to understand society"
“I had imagined lots of things for my retraining, not really politics, admits the former 3rd row, five times champion of France and international twice. I had studied journalism, carried out a course at Sciences-po, I had tracks to work as a consultant. I would also have liked to play a role in the rugby community, but Stade Français never offered me anything. "
Newsletter - The essentials of the news
Every morning, the news seen by Le ParisienI'm registering
Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to allow you to receive our news and commercial offers. Find out more
The conversion proposal will come from Anne Hidalgo, whom he supported during his campaign. In June 2015, on the eve of the last match in her career, she offered him a position as advisor. “I did not come from the administration, but from civil society, I asked him for a period of reflection, and I accepted. In particular because the former rugby player, who spent 17 years in the capital's club, is a curious one.
"What surprised me about him, even when he was very young, was his great culture," recalls Marconnet. He quickly opened up to associations, he was interested in many things. "I always had this need to understand the society in which I evolve," sums up Rabadan, who admits that his first months as a sports advisor to Anne Hidalgo in 2015 were not obvious. “It was even super difficult, I had to put myself on the page of the Paris administration. One month after my arrival, Paris was hit by the attacks, a painful period. "
Want to "carry a project"
The arrival in January 2016 of Anna-Rose, the fruit of her love with Canal + journalist Laurie Delhostal, allowed her to move forward. Until you want to "carry a project". “I did not want to leave for an additional mandate as an adviser, I wanted to appear before the voters (Editor's note: from the XIVth arrondissement where he lives) . The mayor of Paris saw this with a good eye. "
The departure of Jean-François Martins offered him the prospect of becoming an assistant in charge of sports. The former adviser has taken off, aware of the environment in which he now operates.
"In politics, you are dealing with brilliant people. Inevitably, there are questions about my ability to work. I am a former high-level sportsman and they welcome me with more or less kindness. He doesn't care about received ideas. “Pierre is a very open person, turned towards others. Parisians can be proud to have a quadra like him appointed to this function, ”concludes Marconnet.
