Switzerland mourns former FA president Marcel Mathier

Mathier was a member of the association’s central management committee from 1981 to 1993, before serving an eight-year term at the helm of Swiss football. After stepping down in 2001, he was named as SFV/ASF honorary president.

Catalyst for Swiss success

The trained lawyer was the key figure in a number of important reforms in the association’s technical sector which provided the catalyst for the Swiss national team’s qualification for the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States – the country’s first appearance in a major international final tournament for 28 years – as well as its debut at the UEFA EURO finals in England in 1996.

Mathier Mathier worked in consultative capacities for UEFA EURO 2008, which Switzerland co-hosted with Austria. He was a member of UEFA’s Finance Committee from 1998 to 2000 and served as a UEFA match delegate. Mathier was also a long-standing chairman of FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee.

“A visionary figure”

"Swiss football has lost a visionary figure,” said the current Swiss FA president Dominique Blanc.

“The technical reforms in which he played a decisive role are still bearing fruit today. Marcel Mathier was also a perfect mediator in both the professional and amateur football sectors.”