Who is Jules Rimet?

Between 1930 and 1970, the winners of the World Cup were awarded what became known as the Jules Rimet Trophy.

The World Cup statue was simply known as Victory in the beginning but was renamed in honour of Jules Rimet in the 1940s. The trophy was permanently awarded to Brazil in 1970 because they won the World Cup for the third time.

FIFA commissioned the new FIFA World Cup Trophy and Brazil remain the keepers of the replica Jules Rimet Trophy – the real one was stolen for a second time in 1983 and never recovered, but who was the man after whom it was named.

Who is Jules Rimet?

Jules Rimet was FIFA's third president and served for more than 33 years. Having taken office in 1921, the president of the French Football Federation masterminded the World Cup.

The first tournament was held in Uruguay in 1930 and won by the host nation. As FIFA's most senior official, Rimet presented the Uruguayan FA with the trophy that would come to bear his name.

Having helped to formed FIFA more than 120 years ago, Rimet was its president until 1954, two years before he passed away at the age of 83.

He oversaw the first five World Cups, broadly a success on a global scale but questionable in some regards when viewed through a historical lens. The Jules Rimet Trophy was not so named until after World War II, but its location at that time was less than ideal.

The second World Cup was played in Fascist Italy in 1934 and won by the host nation, who then retained their title in France four years later. The unintended consequence was that the trophy spent the duration of the War in Italy and, until 1943, in the virtual grip of Benito Mussolini.

Rimet was criticised for allowing the World Cup to be held in Italy, something current FIFA chief Gianni Infantino would do well to consider when looking at the space in the mirror where his reflection should be.

Like the FIFA presidents that followed, Rimet doesn't always look spotless under scrutiny in the context of the politics and ethical standards of his time.

Presidential successor from 1961 to 1974, Stanley Rous, backed the South African FA during Apartheid. His immediate successor, Joao Havelange, died in 2016 with the stench of alleged corruption still hanging in the air; next on the throne, Sepp Blatter, faced criminal charges and was sanctioned by FIFA itself for his financial dealings.

Rimet could more fairly be described as an imperfect product of his age, and undeniably made a gargantuan and significant contribution to the football world.

The World Cup itself has been facing turbulent times. Taking the competition to Russia, Qatar and the United States in consecutive cycles has attracted criticism for different reasons, Infantino's influence problematic in its own ways.

But it's still the World Cup, and football wouldn't be the same without it.