BIOGRAPHY AND CAREERFranck Ribery born 7 April 1983 is a French football player who currently plays for German club Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga. He primarily plays as a winger, preferably on the left side, and is known for "pace, energy, skill and precise passing." Since joining Bayern, Ribéry has been recognised on the world stage as one of the best French players of his generation. The previous talisman of Les Bleus, Zinedine Zidane, has called Ribéry the "jewel of French football".
Franck Ribery career began in 1989 as a youth player for local hometown club Conti Boulogne. He left the club after seven years to join professional outfit Lille, but departed the club after three years after having difficulties adjusting. In 1999, Ribéry joined US Boulogne, where he played for two years. After spending two more years in the amateur divisions with two different clubs (Alès and Brest), in 2004, Ribéry earned a move to Ligue 1 club FC Metz. After six months with the club, Ribéry moved to Turkey in January 2005 joining Galatasaray where he won the Turkish Cup. After six months at Galatasaray, he departed the club in controversial fashion in order to return to France to join Marseille. Ribéry spent two seasons at the club helping the Marseillais reach the final of the Coupe de France in back-to-back seasons. In 2007, Ribéry joined German club Bayern Munich for a then club-record fee of €25 million. With Bayern, he has won the the double on two occasions; in the 2007–08 and 2009–10 seasons. In 2010, Ribéry contributed to the team that reached the 2010 UEFA Champions League Final, but was unable to participate in the match due to suspension.
Ribéry is a French international. Prior to representing the senior team, he played at under-21 level. At senior level, Ribéry has represented his nation two FIFA World Cups and UEFA Euro 2008. He made his international debut in May 2006 against Mexico. At the 2006 World Cup, Ribéry scored his first international goal against Spain and played in the final match against Italy. Individually, Ribéry is a two-time winner of the French Player of the Year award and has also won the German Footballer of the Year becoming the first player to hold both honours. He has also been named to the UEFA Team of the Year and declared the Young Player of the Year in France.
Ribéry was born on 7 April 1983 in Boulogne-sur-Mer and raised in a low-income neighbourhood on the fringes of the city. When he was two years old, he and his family were involved in a car accident in his hometown, colliding with a truck.Ribéry suffered serious facial injuries that resulted in over one hundred stitches and left two long scars down the right side of his face.Prior to joining Stade Brestois in 2003, he worked as a construction worker with his father, which Ribéry referred to as a "learning experience". Ribéry's younger brother François is also a football player, and has played for numerous amateur clubs in France. François plays for Bayonne in the Championnat National. Ribéry's wife, Wahiba, is a French national of Algerian descent and the couple have two daughters.Ribéry is a convert to Islam and, following his conversion, adopted the name Bilal Yusuf Mohammed.
Since establishing himself as an international, Ribéry has been involved in numerous promotional campaigns. For the 2008–09 season, he appeared, alongside international teammate Karim Benzema, on the French cover of video game FIFA 09. Ribéry is sponsored by American sportswear company Nike and regularly wears Nike Mercurial Vapors. He has appeared in several television advertisements for the brand and, during the 2007–08 Bundesliga season, starred in a one-time television show called "The Franck Ribéry Show", which aired on Direct 8 in France.The show, sponsored by Nike, acted as a variety show with Ribéry appearing in several sketches. On 25 May 2010, a 27 by 30 metres (89 × 98 ft) billboard of Ribéry was officially unveiled in his home city of Boulogne-sur-Mer ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The billboard paid tribute to a similar billboard that was erected for Zinedine Zidane in his home city of Marseille during his career. The construction of the billboard was initially suspended due to possible image ramifications associated with Ribéry's alleged relationship with an underage prostitute.However, the Regional Council of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region, which initially opposed the billboard, agreed to allow construction of the billboard. The billboard was a project of Ribéry's sponsor Nike and was on display for the duration of the FIFA World Cup.
On 18 April 2010, it was first reported by French television service M6 that four members of the French national team were being investigated for their roles as clients of a prostitution ring that was being operated inside of a Paris nightclub with some of the women possibly being underage. The report also stated that two of the players were already questioned as witnesses by judge André Dando and a group of magistrates. The report described the two players as being one who “is a major player in a big foreign club” and that the other “plays in the championship of France Ligue 1". Later that day, the players were discovered to be Ribéry and Sidney Govou. During his interview with Dando, Ribéry reportedly admitted to having a relationship with a prostitute, but did not know that she was a minor at the time the relationship began.On 29 April, the country's Secretary of State for Sports Rama Yade, after refusing to publicly comment on the case in its infancy, declared that any player placed under investigation should not represent the France national team.The following day, a judicial source confirmed that Ribéry would not be placed under official investigation, if at all, before the start of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. On 20 July, Ribéry was questioned by Paris police and, following questioning, was indicted by judge Dando on the charge of "solicitation of a minor prostitute"
Full name: Franck Ribéry
Date of birth: 7 April 1983
Place of birth: Boulogne-sur-Mer, France
Height: 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Playing position: Winger
Club information
Current club: Bayern Munich
Number: 7
Youth career
1989–1996 Conti Boulogne
1996–1999 Lille
1999–2000 Boulogne
Senior career
2000–2002 Boulogne 28 (6)
2002–2003 Alès 19 (1)
2003–2004 Stade Brestois 35 (3)
2004–2005 Metz 20 (1)
2005 Galatasaray 14 (0)
2005–2007 Marseille 60 (11)
2007– Bayern Munich 91 (28)
National team
2004–2006 France U21 13 (2)
2006– France 48 (7)
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