Jacques Vendroux, historic voice of football on Radio France, recruited by Europe 1 – archyde

More than a sports journalist, it is an institution which will soon sit down in front of the blue windshields of the microphones of Europe 1. After fifty-five years of almost continuous presence on the antennas of Radio France (he began in the service of sports of the ORTF), Jacques Vendroux will join private radio in January as a journalist and columnist – information disclosed by the daily The team this December 20, which we are able to confirm.

He should intervene every Friday during sports evenings hosted by Lionel Rosso, provide papers according to the news, but also participate in the coverage of the 2022 Football World Cup, organized in Qatar. For the public radio group, which ended its consultancy contract at the end of the summer, a page is turned, in a certain din. Officially retired for three years, Jacques Vendroux had indeed continued to intervene on the air, but also to open his voluminous address book whenever the news demanded it.

Since 1971, when he founded the Variétés Club de France (VCF), a football club frequented by media personalities and famous former players, the journalist has continued to make it grow, far beyond the world. of the round ball. Thus, on October 14, the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, participated in one of the charity matches of the VCF, organized in favor of the Hospital Foundation.

Recent indentation

For someone who has never professionally strayed from lawns, dating politicians is second nature. Grandson of resistance fighter Jacques-Philippe Vendroux, former mayor of Calais and deputy of Pas-de-Calais, where he was born on 1^er March 1948, the commentator is also the grand-nephew by marriage of General de Gaulle, as he recalls in his book of memories (On a misunderstanding, Michel Lafon, 221 pages, 18.95 euros), published at the beginning of November. Nothing that could have prevented the 73-year-old commentator, whose image seemed inextricably linked to public service, from joining the Lagardère group radio, on which Vincent Bolloré is preparing to launch a takeover bid.

Its recent withdrawal from the Radio France antennas (in particular that of Franceinfo), demanded by the information and sports department, would have precipitated its decision to accept the proposal for Europe 1. Interventions on the antenna of CNews (Canal + group, owned by Vivendi), or even in Paris Match Where Sunday Newspaper (Lagardère group) cannot be excluded.

Asked about Europe 1, on November 2, about the internal investigation carried out at Radio France into acts of sexual harassment within the sports department – partly revealed by the documentary by Marie Portolano I’m not a bitch, I’m a journalist, broadcast in the spring on Canal + -, Jacques Vendroux had estimated it “Remarkably done”, and had found “Formidable” that sanctions have been imposed on the accused persons.

Although he headed this service from 2002 to 2019, the commentator has always denied having knowledge of reprehensible acts committed against female journalists, instead congratulating himself on having participated in the feminization of the service (with recruitments of Amaia Cazenave, Laetitia Bernard or Fanny Lechevestrier). At the head of the sports department, Jacques Vendroux was replaced in January 2019 by Vincent Rodriguez, himself abruptly dismissed from his post at the beginning of the summer. Nathalie Iannetta, ex-journalist on Canal + and former advisor in charge of sports and associative life to President François Hollande between 2014 and 2016, has held the position since the start of the school year.