Franck Ribéry Biography

Franck Ribéry (Franck Henry Pierre Ribéry) is a French professional footballer who recently plays for German club Bayern Munich. He is a former France national team player. He plays as a winger, preferably on the left side although being right-footed, and is known for pace, energy, skill and precise passing.

He is described as a player who is fast, tricky and excellent dribbler, he has great control with the ball at his feet. Since joining Bayern, he has been recognized on the world stage as one of the best French players of his generation. The previous talisman of the French national team, Zinedine Zidane, has called Ribéry the “jewel of French football”.

Franck Ribéry Age

Franck Ribéry was born on 7 April 1983 in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France. He is 36 years old as of 2019.

Franck Ribéry Net worth

Franck Ribéry earns his income from his businesses and from other related organizations. He also earns his income from his work as a French professional footballer. He has an estimated net worth of $ 80 million dollars.

Franck Ribéry Family

Franck Ribéry was born in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France to Francois Ribery (father) and Marie- Pierre Ribéry (mother). He has three siblings François Ribéry (brother), Steven Ribéry (brother) and Ludivine Ribéry (sister).

Franck Ribéry Wife | Children

Franck Ribéry is married to Wahiba Ribéry. They were blessed with four children Seïf el Islam Ribéry, Hizya Ribéry, Mohammed Ribéry, and Shakinez Ribéry.

Frank Ribery Photo

Franck Ribéry Football player

Ribéry’s 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 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 to join 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 won nine Bundesliga titles (a Bundesliga record), six DFB-Pokal, one UEFA Champions League and one FIFA Club World Cup, which include four doubles and one treble. His form for Bayern in the clubs 2012–13 treble winning season saw him nominated alongside Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo on the three-man shortlist for the 2013 FIFA Ballon d’Or.

Ribéry won a club record 24 titles at Bayern. Between 2006 and 2014, Ribéry represented the France national football team 81 times. Ribéry has represented his nation at two FIFA World Cups(2006, 2010) and two UEFA European Championships (2008, 2012). 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. He is a three-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 honors.

He has also been named to the UEFA Team of the Year and declared the Young Player of the Year in France. In 2013, Ribéry won the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award. In 2013, he was also ranked fourth in The Guardian’s list of the best players in the world.

Franck Ribéry Football Clubs

Franck Ribéry began his football career at age six playing in the youth section of amateur club FC Conti de Boulogne-sur-Mer. After a seven-year stay, in 1996, he joined professional outfit Lille, who were playing in the second division.

While at Lille, Ribéry excelled athletically but developed academic and behavioral problems, which led to Lille releasing him. In 2012, during a press conference ahead of Bayern Munich’s Champions League tie against his former club Lille,

Ribéry explained that he was released from the Lille academy after suffering a broken elbow and that Lille officials had previously wanted to drop him from the academy for being “too small”.

After leaving Lille, Ribéry returned to his hometown joining the biggest club in the city, US Boulogne. After spending a year in the reserves, he was promoted to the senior team. Ribéry only made four appearances in his debut season as Boulogne, who were playing in the CFA, the fourth division of French football, earned promotion to third-tier Championnat National.

In his second season with the club, Ribéry appeared in 25 league matches converting five goals. Although Boulogne finished 17th, which meant a return to the fourth division, Ribéry’s solid performances earned him a move to fellow National club Olympique Alès.

In his only season at the club, Ribéry made 18 appearances scoring only one goal. Following the season, despite finishing safe, Alès were relegated to the Division d’Honneur, the sixth division of French football, by the DNCG after the club declared bankruptcy.

The resulting news led to Ribéry signing with Stade Brest, another Championnat National club. At Brest, Ribéry established himself as a premier player in the league appearing in 35 league matches scoring three goals. Ribéry’s performance and the team as a whole led to the club finishing second in the league, thus earning promotion to Ligue 2.

Despite his success with Brest, Ribéry sought to play in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. His dream came to fruition when Metz’s manager Jean Fernandez took a liking to him and recruited him on a free transfer.

He only spent half a season at Metz but impressed earning the UNFP Player of the Month in August 2004. He scored his only league goal for Metz on 6 November in the team’s 1–1 draw with Toulouse. His stellar play on the right side of midfield led to Metz supporters comparing him to Robert Pires, a former Metz player.

After negotiations on an extension ended in a stalemate, in January 2005, Ribéry relocated to Turkey. There he joined Galatasaray on an initial loan deal; the Istanbul-based outfit had the right to pay Metz €2 million to make the move permanent.

Galatasaray

Ribéry was drafted into Galatasaray by manager Gheorghe Hagi and appeared in 14 league matches as the club finished in third-place position. While playing for the club, Galatasaray supporters nicknamed him “Ferraribery”, in reference to his quick acceleration with the ball at his feet and also “Scarface” due to a large scar located on the right side of his face. In the Turkish Cup,

Ribéry was instrumental in the club’s 5–1 thrashing of rivals Fenerbahçe in the competition’s ultimate match. He scored the opening goal in the 16th minute and also assisted on another goal. Ribéry was later substituted in the 52nd minute with Galatasaray leading 3–1. The trophy was Ribéry’s first major honor.

Move to Marseille and CAS ruling

On 15 June 2005, Ribéry announced that he would be returning to France joining Ligue 1 club Marseille on a five-year contract, plus reuniting with former manager Jean Fernandez. The move was considered surprising to Galatasaray as Ribéry had three years remaining on his contract after the club paid Metz €2 million to make the loan move permanent on 30 March.

He argued that he had not been paid his wages by the club and asked FIFA, the sport’s governing body, to invalidate his contract. He also confirmed that at one point during the season, he was threatened with a baseball bat by his former agent and a Galatasaray director.

A day after announcing his move, Galatasaray officials and manager Eric Gerets blasted the player for betraying the club and also announced their intent to ask FIFA to probe the situation. In July 2005, FIFA ruled in favor of Ribéry and dismissed Galatasaray’s claims of the player being at fault. In response, the Turkish club announced their decision to challenge FIFA’s ruling by appealing to the International Court of Arbitration for Sport.

On 25 April 2007, their appeal was dismissed by the court, who declared in a statement that Ribéry had terminated his contract with the Turkish club at the end of the 2004–05 season on just grounds, and that Galatasaray was therefore not entitled to any compensation. Galatasaray had sought €10 million in compensation from Marseille.

2006–07 season

Following Ribéry’s success internationally at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, a bidding war occurred in order to obtain his services with English club Arsenal initially offering €15 million for the player. However, Arsenal would be trumped by Spanish club Real Madrid, who offered €30 million for the Frenchman, according to Marseille directors.

Rivals Olympique Lyonnais also sought Ribéry’s services, with president Pape Diouf accusing Jean-Michel Aulas of tapping-up Ribéry after it was discovered that the Lyon chairman visited the France national team and Ribéry himself during the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Diouf later threatened to report Aulas to the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) for his actions. He went as far as to accuse Ribéry’s former agent, Bruno Heiderscheid, of badly advising the player. Marseille continued to declare him off-limits with nearly four years remaining on Ribéry’s contract.

On 11 August 2006, Ribéry confirmed his intention to remain with the club for the 2006–07 season. Ribéry’s now heightened popularity saw increased speculation from writers and supporters that Marseille would finally win their first league title since the 1991–92 season.

He began the 2006–07 campaign on a high note, scoring in the club’s second match of the season against Auxerre in a 3–0 victory. On 11 November 2006, Ribéry suffered a serious groin injury in Marseille’s 1–0 loss to Lille. The resulting injury meant Ribéry was out for a number of weeks, returning following the winter break.

On his return in January, Ribéry netted two goals in another win over Auxerre. The following month, Ribéry suffered a fractured foot in a match against Toulouse. The injury required him to miss four league matches, as well as a Coupe de France match.

In April 2007, Ribéry finished the league season by scoring in back-to-back weeks against Sochaux in a 4–2 win and Monaco in another victory. In the Coupe de France, Marseille again reached the final with Ribéry, for the second straight season, putting them there scoring the game-winning goal in a 3–0 semi-final win over Nantes.

In the final, Marseille were heavy favorites over Sochaux, a team they had completely dominated just 12 days prior. However, Sochaux recorded an upset victory defeating Marseille 5–4 on penalties after the match ended 2–2 following extra time.

Ribéry’s final match with Marseille was a 1–0 win over Sedan on the final matchday of the season. The victory secured second place for Marseille and was their best finish since finishing runner-up to Bordeaux during the 1998–99 season. Following the season, he was awarded the French Player of the Year by French sports publication France Football. The honor ended the four-year reign of Thierry Henry.

Bayern Munich

2014–15 season

On 18 October 2014, Ribéry made his return after suffering from a knee injury as a substitute in the 61st minute in a 6–0 home victory over Werder Bremen. He scored each goal in both the matches against A.S. Roma in the UEFA Champions League group stage, Bayern won 7–1 in the first match and 2–0 in the second match.

He made an impressive performance and scored a goal in his first start for the club since April 2014 in a 3–1 victory over Hamburger SV in the DFB-Pokal on 30 October. He scored his 100th goal for Bayern and the only goal of the match in 1–0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen on 6 December.

The goal happened in his 287th competitive match for Bayern. In January 2015, he suffered another injury which was muscle injury in training and missed only three matches against VfL Wolfsburg, Schalke 04 and VfB Stuttgart.

On 27 March, Ribéry then suffered an ankle injury in a 7–0 home victory over Shakhtar Donetsk in the UEFA Champions League 2nd leg match of the Round of 16 tie and was sidelined for the remaining of the season. He scored nine goals and provided seven assists in this season.

2015–2016 season

On 2 December 2015, Ribéry trained with the first team for the first time since his injury in March 2015. On 5 December, he made his first appearance since his ankle injury as a substitute coming in for Robert Lewandowski and also scored a goal after six minutes of his appearance, but that didn’t stop Bayern from losing 3–1 to Borussia Mönchengladbach.

It was also his 300th competitive appearance for Bayern Munich. He made his 200th Bundesliga appearance in a 1–0 win over 1. FC Köln on 19 March 2016. On 2 April, Ribéry scored an amazing bicycle kick goal for Bayern Munich to beat Eintracht Frankfurt with a 1–0 victory. He finished the season with two goals and three assists.

2016–2017 season

Ribéry extended his contract with Bayern Munich by another year to June 2018, on 27 November 2016. On 17 September, Ribéry was involved in all Bayern’s goal as he provided three assists to Robert Lewandowski, Xabi Alonso, and Rafinha’s goals to beat FC Ingolstadt 04 with a 3–1 victory.

In the middle of the season, he suffered a thigh injury which kept him out from the pitch for almost four weeks. He made his comeback in a 3–0 DFB-Pokal quarter-final victory over Schalke 04 on 2 March 2017. He scored five goals and provided seventeen assists in this season.

2017–2018 season

Ribéry started the 2017–2018 season by winning the DFL-Supercup as Bayern defeated their arch-rival Borussia Dortmund 5–4 on penalties. On 1 October 2017, he sustained a knee injury in a 2–2 draw to Hertha BSC.

On 2 December, Ribéry made his return to the pitch in a 3–1 victory over Hannover 96 and made a record for Bayern Munich’s most Bundesliga appearances by a non-German with 235th appearance, overtaking former Bayern player and current sporting director Hasan Salihamidžić who had 234 appearances.

He made another record of most competitive appearances by any non-German player for Bayern with 366 appearances in a 1–0 victory over 1. FC Köln, surpassing Hasan Salihamidžić’s 365 appearances.

Ribéry scored twice in a 6–0 home victory over Hamburger SV on 10 March 2018. On 7 May 2018, Ribéry again extended his contract with Bayern, until June 2019. He ended the season with six goals and five assists.

2018–19 season

Ribéry played his first competitive match of the season and won the DFL-Supercup as Bayern defeated Eintracht Frankfurt with a 5–0 victory. On 1 September, Ribéry made his 250th Bundesliga appearance in a 3–0 victory over VfB Stuttgart. On 27 November, Ribéry scored his first goal of the season in a 5–1 win against S.L.

Benfica in the Champions League. On 5 May 2019, Bayern Munich announced that Ribéry would be leaving the club at the end of the season, with a testimonial match set for 2020. On 18 May 2019, Ribéry won his ninth Bundesliga title with Bayern.

With his ninth Bundesliga title, Ribéry became Bundesliga’s all-time record champion. On 25 May 2019, Ribéry won his sixth DFB-Pokal as Bayern defeated RB Leipzig 3–0 in the 2019 DFB-Pokal Final.

Ribéry came on as a substitute in the 87th minute and made history as this was his eighth DFB-Pokal final appearance. No other player has played in as many DFB-Pokal finals. He finished his career at Bayern with a club record 24 titles.

Franck Ribéry International career

Franck Ribéry was ever present with the France under-21 team earning his first selection on 3 September 2004 in a 1–0 victory over Israel in qualifying for the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.

He scored his first under-21 goal five days later in a 1–0 friendly win over Slovakia. On 15 November 2005, he scored an important goal against England during the qualification playoffs as France defeated them 3–2 on aggregate to advance to the finals.

He, however, missed the competition after earning selection to coach Raymond Domenech’s pre-World Cup squad. In total with the under-21s, Ribéry made 13 appearances scoring two goals.

Ribéry earned his first cap with the senior team in a 1–0 victory over Mexico on 27 May 2006 appearing as a substitute in the 74th minute for striker David Trezeguet. His solid performances in the friendly matches ahead of the 2006 FIFA World Cup led to his inclusion in the team for the competition.

Ribéry appeared in all seven matches France contested, starting six. On 27 June, he scored France’s opening goal in the team’s 3–1 Round of 16 win over Spain after receiving a through ball from Patrick Vieira, which allowed the winger to dribble past an oncoming Iker Casillas and shoot into the empty net.

He played in the final where France lost to Italy on penalties. Ribéry’s only shot on goal came in extra time and he was later replaced by Trezeguet. Following the retirement of Zinedine Zidane, it was expected that Ribéry would succeed him and become the national team’s talisman.

He went scoreless for almost a year and a half before converting a penalty shot against England on 26 March 2008 at the Stade de France. Following the goal, Ribéry paid tribute to legendary French commentator Thierry Gilardi, who had died a day earlier.

France performed below expectations at Euro 2008, with Ribéry appearing in all three group stage matches as France suffered early elimination. On 17 June 2008, in the team’s final group stage match against Italy, Ribéry ruptured a ligament in his left ankle in just the 8th minute of play.

He returned to the team on 11 October 2008 in a FIFA World Cup qualification match against Romania, scoring the team’s opening goal in a 2–2 draw. On 28 March 2009, Ribéry scored the lone goal away to Lithuania. Three days later, he completed this feat again, this time at the Stade de France, netting the winner in the 75th minute following service from André-Pierre Gignac.

On 11 May 2010, Ribéry was named to Domenech’s 30-man preliminary squad to participate in the 2010 World Cup and his second World Cup overall. He was later named to the 23-man team to compete in the competition. He appeared in all three group stage matches.

Following the team’s opening match against Uruguay, Ribéry was criticized for his performance by former international Just Fontaine, who questioned Ribéry’s leadership ability. It was later reported by the media that Ribéry and striker Nicolas Anelka purposely “froze-out” midfielder Yoann Gourcuff.

Anelka was later dismissed from the team after having a dispute in which obscenities were passed, with Domenech during half-time of the team’s 2–0 loss to Mexico. On 20 June, an emotional Ribéry appeared alongside Domenech on TF1’s football show Téléfoot to dispel rumors associated with the team and to also apologize to supporters for the national team’s performance over the past two years, stating, “We [France] are suffering at the moment,” and, “I would like to say sorry to the whole country.”

The following day, the team boycotted a training session in response to Anelka’s expulsion and, on 21 June, returned to training without incident. In the team’s final group stage match against the hosts South Africa, Ribéry assisted on the team’s only goal of the competition, scored by Florent Malouda.

France, however, lost the match 2–1, which resulted in the team’s elimination from the competition. On 6 August, Ribéry was one of five players summoned to attend a hearing held by the Disciplinary Committee of the French Football Federation (FFF) in response to the team’s strike held at the World Cup.

On 17 August, he received a three-match international ban for his part in the incident. He did not attend the hearing due to his parent club’s objection. On 17 March 2011, Ribéry was called up to the national team by new manager Laurent Blanc for the first time since the 2010 World Cup.

He had been eligible to return to the team since October 2010 after serving his three-match suspension, but due to injuries, Ribéry missed three call-ups. On 21 March, he arrived at Clairefontaine ahead of the team’s matches against Luxembourg and Croatia, Ribéry attended a personal press conference in which he apologized for his behavior overall during the 2010 calendar year.

He made his return to the team on 25 March in the team’s match against Luxembourg and responded by assisting on the team’s second goal, scored by Yoann Gourcuff, in its 2–0 win. In his first match at the Stade de France since his participation at the World Cup, against Croatia, Ribéry appeared as a substitute and was subject to jeers from some section of supporters, though other parts of the stadium chanted his name.

After appearing regularly in qualifying for UEFA Euro 2012, on 29 May 2012, Ribéry was named to the squad to participate in the competition. Two days prior, he scored his first goal for France in over three years in a 3–2 friendly comeback win over Iceland.

On 31 May, Ribéry scored the game-winning goal in a 2–0 win against Serbia. Four days later, he capped off the trio of lead-in friendly matches ahead of the European Championship by scoring the opening goal in a 4–0 shutout win over Estonia.

Ribéry was included in France’s squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, but on 6 June, coach Didier Deschamps confirmed that he would miss the tournament through injury. Shortly afterward, in August 2014 Ribéry retired from international football. He cited the reasons for his retirement as “purely personal”.

Franck Ribéry Style of play and personality

Franck Ribéry primarily plays as a winger and is described as a player who is “fast, tricky, and an excellent dribbler who has great control with the ball at his feet”.

Despite being predominantly right-footed and utilized as a right-sided midfielder during his development years in France, since establishing himself as an international and at Bayern Munich, Ribéry has personally admitted that his preference is to play on the left wing, even going as far as to state, “My place is on the left” when asked at a February 2010 media session while on international duty.

Although he is often played on the left wing domestically, Ribéry has struggled to establish himself as a left winger at the international level with France due to the presence of left-footed dominant players such as Florent Malouda. He declared that he is best utilized on the left side because “that is where I am most free and I am the best in my head”.

Playing on the left also allows Ribéry to use his “bursts of acceleration and weaving runs” to effectively cut inside, which gives him the options of either shooting or delivering a decisive pass.

Ribéry is also capable of playing in the center of the field as an attacking midfielder, where his vision and playmaking skills are best exhibited. Despite predominantly playing on the wing, he has averaged double-digits in assists every year beginning with his final season at Marseille.

Ribéry has been described as a provocateur on the field of play, with UEFA describing him as “a crowd-pleaser one of those rare breeds of a footballer was capable of enjoying his talents while expressing them”. During the 2006 World Cup, he was mentored by national team playmaker Zinedine Zidane.

While boasting him as “the jewel of French football”, Zidane has also praised Ribéry as a person, declaring, “Franck just loves life. He’s the kind of player that makes an impression every time he plays. He’s bound to become an important figure in the world of football.”

Ribéry’s on-field personality is often matched off-field as he is often referred to as a “joker” and “prankster” by the club and international teammates. The midfielder has stated that humor is very important, admitting, “It’s important to always be smiling, to wake up and feel good.

We (footballers) have a great job, we like what we do and we have fun.” His more notable stunts include driving a tractor on field during one of his last matches with Marseille; in his debut season with Bayern, emptying a bucket of water over former club goalkeeper Oliver Kahn from the roof of the club’s training centre; and, during the 2008–09 winter break, commandeering the team bus while in Dubai and crashing it.

Ribéry, however, has struggled with injuries. Since his first season at Bayern in which he appeared in 46 of the club’s 54 competitive matches, Ribéry has struggled with minor and serious injuries that have resulted in the player failing to appear in over 40 matches in subsequent seasons; the midfielder passed the 40-match barrier in the 2011–12 season after failing to in the previous three seasons.

Ahead of the 2008–09 season, he tore ligaments in one of his ankles while on international duty and, during the 2009–10 season, struggled with tendinitis in his left knee. In the next season, Ribéry suffered an ankle injury, which resulted in the midfielder missing two months, despite the initial diagnosis ruling him out for four weeks.

He later suffered a similar ankle injury at the start of the 2011–12 season. Ribéry, himself, has admitted that injuries have led to most of his five-year career at Bayern being difficult, stating in July 2011, “The last two years (2009–10 and 2010–11 seasons) have been more difficult, partly because I kept picking up injuries. The important thing for me now is to avoid any more injuries”

Franck Ribéry Commercial promotions

Franck Ribéry Since establishing himself as an international, Ribéry has been involved in numerous promotional campaigns. He is sponsored by American sportswear company Nike and regularly wears Nike Mercurial Vapors.

He appeared in several television advertisements for Nike and, during the 2007–08 Bundesliga season, starred in a one-off 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.

He features in EA Sports’ FIFA video game series. For the 2008–09 season, he appeared on the French cover of FIFA 09 alongside international teammate Karim Benzema, and was the ninth-highest rated player in FIFA 15.

On 25 May 2010, a 27 by 30 meters (89 ft × 98 ft) billboard of Ribéry was officially unveiled in his home city of Boulogne-sur-Mer ahead of the 2010 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 2010 World Cup. More recently, he was one of several international superstars featured in Nike’s “The Last Game”, a five-minute animated ad made during the run-up to the 2014 World Cup that went viral.

He appeared in the music video for “Même pas fatigué !!!” by Magic System and Khaled. The single released in 2009 stayed seven weeks at number one in SNEP French Singles Chart.

Franck Ribéry Controversies

On 18 April 2010, French television service reported that M6 and 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 had a relationship with a prostitute but he did not know that she was a minor at the time their relationship began.

On 29 April 2010, 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 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”.

In November 2011, prosecutors asked for the cases against Ribéry and Benzema to be dropped, saying that the players were not aware that the escort, identified as Zahia Dehar, was 16 years old when they had paid to have sex with her.

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