<b>Following in the footsteps of our predecessors, football has become what it is now. While we enjoy the fun of modern football, we should not forget the "ancient gods" who have made outstanding contributions to the development of football. "Football Pioneers" is such a special column of thesefootballtimes, which specializes in introducing the "founders" who have opened up the territory for the national team and clubs. Today, let's take a look at the founder of the World Cup, the promoter of the French Football Association and FIFA: Remit. </b>
Remitt should be remembered as the one who brought us a four-year football feast. The inspiration of his creations is extremely wide-ranging and remains alive today. Yes, Remitt brought the World Cup to the world, but in detail, the French grocer's son has a profound impact on the world, not limited to the world of football.
As a child, Remit's parents moved to Paris, while he was left behind by his grandparents for a strict Catholic education. At the age of 11, his grandparents were unable to take care of Remit, and he had to travel to Paris to return to his parents. After moving to Paris, he devoted himself to his studies and became a model student. As a law student who can enjoy a scholarship, all this is completely impossible from the traditional theory of origin.
Remet's upbringing was deeply influenced by his family environment, in addition to the suffering and poverty of the French working class at that time, and the "inability to return to heaven" of the rulers also had a huge impact on him.
As a devout Catholic, Pope Leo XIII's New Roman Catholic Church, published in 1891, had a major influence on him. The New Roman Catholic Church is an open letter to all Catholic leaders condemning "the misery and misfortune caused by unjust oppression of the majority of the working class". For Remit, who was an adult at the time, this article was published at a critical time in his growth, shaping Remitt's vision of the future.
<b>According to his grandson, Yves Remitt, his grandfather was a "humanitarian and idealist who believed that sport could unite the world". It was this kind of thinking that shaped the young Remitt and prompted him to take his first steps into the world of football. He was not very interested in the sport before, but objectively speaking, the sport is becoming more and more popular in France. </b>
In 1897, at the age of 24, Remitt and some like-minded people founded the Red Star Sports Club in Saint-Ouen, a suburb of Paris. Remitt and his co-founders wanted to build a club that transcended the boundaries of traditional football clubs, a club that encompassed everything on and off the pitch. It will be in-depth into the community, offering some sporting activities outside of football and being extremely inclusive. Red Star Sports would not turn anyone away – a special case among many clubs at the time. Perhaps we can also understand that the club has established deep ties with the local left-wing working class.
This connection continues to this day. Former Sunderland striker David Belion, the club's current creative director and former Sunderland, began playing his current role after hanging up his boots in 2016, helping the club connect with the local arts and cultural scene. In a recent interview with The Guardian, David Belion said: "Red Star Sports Club is an underground, romantic and popular football club with absolutely no social status. The club was founded not just to win the game, it was a powerful symbol of freedom and creativity. ”
In 1910, Remit officially entered football, becoming a key figure in the creation of France's first national league, the Football Association Federation, and became the first president of the organization. Nine years later, after the end of the First World War, Remit assisted in the creation of the French Football Federation and was appointed president of the Football Association. The French Football Federation has been affiliated with FIFA since its inception, which has given Remit an even bigger ambition: to create a global football tournament.
Two years after becoming president of the French Football Federation, Remit became president of FIFA. FIFA has described Remitt's influence on the World Cup as follows: Becoming president of the French Football Association gave Remitt "the opportunity to realize his dream of driving international competitions".
<b>After experiencing World War I, Remit believed that sport could be used in a more positive way to channel the vicious nationalism of the time, and he hoped to ease the contradictions between countries through football. But unlike Coubertin, the father of the Olympic Games, Remit believes this can only be achieved by involving all social classes. </b>As a self-made man, as a non-aristocrat, such views have always influenced Remitt, making his work different from that of his contemporaries.
FIFA has also been eager to host global events, but by that time the Olympics had already taken the first steps in that direction, with football programmes. Remit pushed the fifa concept, but was strongly opposed by Coubertin and the FA. However, in the 1920s, as the divisions surrounding the management of Olympic football matches became more intense, the idea of a global event promoted by Remitt received more support.
Remit insists that FIFA now has full authority to host a global event, the World Cup, and hopes to attract professionals from lower social classes in this way. If the IOC disagrees with his ideas, he organizes global events on his own.
Thus, at the FIFA Congress in Amsterdam in 1928, 30 member states voted in favour of creating the quadrennial World Cup. In 1930, the first World Cup went smoothly in Uruguay, but since the tournament was played in South America, Remit had to work hard to persuade European countries to send teams to compete. In the end, France, Belgium, Yugoslavia and Romania agreed to participate with financial commitments from uruguayan organizers. Together with Remit, who hid the World Cup trophy in his suitcase, they embarked on a long journey at sea.
The success of the first World Cup heralded a good start to the tournament. Despite some criticism for turning a blind eye to the politicization of the tournament, the next two World Cups became the most high-profile football tournaments of the time, but the success of these two World Cups coincided with the rise of fascism.
After the world was once again plunged into war and chaos, FIFA was "in a corner of the world" and unscathed. Remit himself is said to be very proud of this, because FIFA and his beloved World Cup still exist in the war years, and can continue to realize his ideal of uniting people and countries through sports. By contrast, the League of Nations, which also aims to achieve unity, has not been able to survive.
Remitt served as FIFA president for a total of 33 years until the end of the 1954 World Cup final, when he handed the World Cup title to Fritz Walter. During that time, the number of teams that had the opportunity to participate in the World Cup increased from 12 to 85, and the World Cup is becoming a truly prestigious global event. The World Cup may have evolved into something else than Remitt's fledgling global championships, but Remit's spirit remains.
<b>Remit agreed that football should be inclusive and multi-ethnic. He believes that through international competitions, especially football, he can establish and strengthen the fundamental principles of Catholicism that he cherishes: hard work, fair play, cooperation and respect. </b>After retiring from fifa presidency, Remit was also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1956 – a fact of which he is truly proud given his beliefs and sporting ambitions.
Remit may regret that he didn't really play as a professional player, but his influence on world football continues to this day, and we can feel it anywhere in the world. Remitt, he was a true football pioneer.
（Armour）