Nathalie Iannetta Sabattier

Born near Paris, France, on 15 May 1972.

Nathalie Iannetta grew up near Paris in a family of Italian immigrants with a keen interest in football. The daughter of a goalkeeper, she quickly developed the same passion for football as her father, grandfathers and uncles. It was no surprise that a girl brought up in such a family should fall in love with the beautiful game, but it was more unusual in French society at the time, where football was very much a man’s game.

Her passion never faded. After studying history and political sciences, followed by two years as an editor at Canal+, the largest pay-TV provider in France and Europe, in 1997 the Canal+ sports department invited her to work on its coverage of the Ligue 1 championship and the forthcoming World Cup, which France was to host in 1998.

Her arrival in an all-male department was seen as a minor revolution in the world of sport on French TV. As well as Ligue 1 matchnights, it was not long before her sports department bosses assigned her to the channel’s flagship programme dedicated to the UEFA club competitions.

Nathalie worked as a sports journalist for 19 years, always for Canal+, before leaving in June 2014 to become special advisor to the French president, François Hollande, on matters relating to sport, engagement, youth and community life. Her duties included coordinating the state authorities’ cooperation with UEFA in relation to the organisation of UEFA EURO 2016 in France.

In the light of that experience, in October 2016 UEFA invited her to become chief advisor to the executive office on social responsibility and relations with the European Commissionm, a position she held until 2018.

Nathalie Iannetta joined the UEFA Foundation for Children’s board of trustees on 24 May 2017. As a partner in a communication company she now splits her time between Nyon and Paris, where her husband and two children live.