He was a football player, Swiss champion, and a trainer before turning to banking: a top Swiss Credit Suisse banker is being promoted to the highest role at «his» club.
Credit Suisse banker Pascal Besnard is capping his already-impressive career with the presidency of Servette FC, the Geneva-based football club said in a statement. He is taking over from Didier Fischer at the super league club from January 1.
The 55-year-old Besnard has long ties to Servette. He played for the boom-and-bust club for seven years, winning the Swiss championship in 1985, together with Dortmund coach Lucien Favre. Besnard also coached Servette juniors and oversaw the Swiss association which runs the club.
Besnard, who has worked for Credit Suisse for 18 years and is currently its head in the Lake Geneva region, said his goals at Servette include «sporting success in Switzerland of course, but also in Europe, success in women's football, with juniors, for Servette to become a popular club again, and generational success – the long-term consequence of our actions.»
