Jean-Luc Dehaene passes away

The chief investigator of the UEFA Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) investigatory chamber, Jean-Luc Dehaene (Belgium), has passed away at the age of 73.

Born in Montpellier, France on 7 August 1940, Mr Dehaene was Prime Minister of Belgium from 1992 to 1999. He also served as minister for social affairs and institutional reform (1981-88) and minister for transport (1988-92), and became a Member of the European Parliament in 2004.

A doctor of law, Jean-Luc Dehaene served, among various functions in public life, as mayor of the Belgian municipality of Vilvoorde from 2001 to 2007. He also served as vice-chairman of the board of governors of the King Baudouin Foundation, and as president of the administrative council of the College of Europe (1999-2009). Mr Dehaene also had extensive experience in the private sector, being a member of the board of several important European companies.

Mr Dehaene was a key member of the two-chamber Club Financial Control Body (CFCB), set up in June 2012 to oversee the application of the UEFA Club Licensing System and Financial Fair Play Regulations. Previously, in September 2009, he had been appointed as the first chairman of the newly-created Club Financial Control Panel.

"Mr Dehaene was a great man," said UEFA President Michel Platini in paying tribute. "He was a statesman and a man of conviction. Through his love of football, he accepted to play a key role in the setting up of Financial Fair Play, becoming the first chairman of the Club Financial Control Panel and then chief investigator of the UEFA Club Financial Control Body investigatory chamber – a mission which was close to his heart, and one to which he was fully committed.

"We are all going to miss his passion, simplicity, irreproachable professionalism and great sense of duty. European football wishes to convey its deepest sympathy to his family and friends.”