28/04/2020 09:00
Tributes paid to CEV’s founding father Bernard Mauche
News from the National Federations
Paris, France, April 28, 2020. Bernard Mauche, President of the French Volleyball Federation (FFVB) between 1965 and 1973 and one of the CEV’s founding fathers passed away on Sunday shortly before turning 92.
Born on June 1, 1928, Mauche began his career as a manager very early. Back in 1947, he took charge of the Volleyball section of ASULyon and was some sort of ‘factotum’ there – president, coach, player and much more. He remained president of the club from France’s third largest city until 1993.
A Vice-President of the French Volleyball Federation from 1960 to 1965, Mauche played a leading role together with Belgium’s Max Wasterlain in setting up – in 1963 – the European Sports Commission, a predecessor to the CEV, serving as its Vice-President until 1973. He was FFVB President from 1965 until 1973 and during his terms of office, he was a member of the Board of Directors of the French National Olympic Committee (CNOSF) as well.
In 1973, he did not run again and Secretary General Georges Boudry succeeded him at the helm of the French Volleyball Federation. He remained Vice-President of the FFVB until 1980.
Despite the many years spent in the service of the FFVB, he remained very close to his former club in Lyon, which produced many of the top male and female French Volleyball players and achieved significant international success as well.
After leaving office, he remained passionate about his sport and often went to follow matches of RC CANNES or AS CANNES. In June 2019, he came to support ‘Les Bleus’ during their home round of the FIVB Volleyball Nations League in Cannes. A few days before the introduction of lockdown measures to fight the coronavirus outbreak in March 2020, he was still present in the stands of the Palais des Victoires.
“Bernard Mauche was a man passionate about our sport. I have often had the opportunity to meet him in the stands of the Palais des Victoires in Cannes and I very much appreciated our discussions on our common passion, as well as the advice he was able to give me,” says French Volleyball Federation President Eric Tanguy. “French Volleyball loses a man of great value who has marked the history of our sport.”
The CEV joins the French Volleyball Federation in offering sincere condolences to Mr Mauche’s family and expressing deep gratitude for his lifelong dedication to Volleyball.
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