The arrest of Bruno Martini for “corruption of a minor” and “recording of child pornography images” darkens the course of a man who marked French handball.
His piercing looks in front of opposing shooters, his presence in the cages, his many parades marked an era, that of the emergence of a discipline in France in the 90s.
Today president of the National Handball League, the one that governs all the activities of the professional world in France, Bruno Martini, 52, still gravitates and always in the small world of the ball that pegs. A continuous rise for the former international goalkeeper, born in 1970 in Salon-de-Provence.
A recognition that he first knew as a player. From his beginnings at Miramas where he made his first stops, from his time in sports-studies in Marseille supervised by a certain Daniel Costantini in the mid-1980s, from his years at Smuc, at OM-Vitrolles to win the first cup continent of French handball in 1993.
Apart from a gold medal at the Olympic Games which is missing from his list, Bruno Martini has marked his career with success even if he experienced a low, in club – including a stint in Istres in 1995 then in D2. Spain, a freelance in Toulouse… until his return to full light in Montpellier in 2000, to form an impassable pair of goalkeepers with Thierry Omeyer until the European title in 2003 alongside Guigou and Karabatic.
PSG General Manager
Bruno Martini is also the France team. He was part of the Barjots team alongside Gardent, Lathoud and Stoecklin. The first national team to seek gold in the tricolor hand which became world champion in Iceland in 1995 before re-editing it six years later in Sweden. A career in Blue punctuated by more than 200 selections.
In club, it ended after a final freelance in 2009, at almost 40 years old, in Kiel, Germany, to compensate for the injury of Andreas Palicka. He needed a free goalkeeper, the experience of Provençal had spoken for him. Enough to complete his list of exceptional players: with two world championships, a Champions League, five national titles and as many French cups…
Recognition that allows him to put on once his career is over, the costume of leader. He also practiced in Istres, the year of the crazy League Cup victory in Miami, in 2008, before gaining recognition by becoming general manager at PSG from 2010 to 2021 with the emergence of the stars of the Qatari era. He left office in January 2021 to embark on e-sport and then take over from Olivier Girault at the head of the National League in November.
Prosecuted for “corruption of a minor” and “possession of child pornography”, Bruno Martini has been under investigation since 2020 after a complaint from a 13-year-old teenager. The former handball champion was arrested Monday in Paris and placed in police custody. He was brought before the court on Tuesday evening and left free for an appearance for preliminary recognition of guilt.
