Zinedine Zidane has taken a shocking shift from soccer to another sport as the French man has been unveiled as the new Alpine’s ambassador on Thursday, February 16.
His new appointment as the Alpine’s ambassador happened in London as part of the launch of the French carmaker’s F1 car for this season, the A523.
The 50-year-old Former Juventus, Real Madrid, and France midfielder Zidane, who also managed Real Madrid for two spells, was pictured stopping by the Alpine garage at last season’s Monaco Grand Prix.
The former Real Madrid manager seems to be a Formula 1 enthusiast as he was Alpine’s guest of honor last year at the Monaco Grand Prix.
But seeing Zidane, who has been linked to PSG to replace Christophe Galtier just in case he is sacked, switching to another job comes as a surprise.
PSG is reportedly monitoring Zidane’s entrance to the French club with Galtier having until the last-16 return leg which will come up on March 8 to convince club chiefs he is still capable of the job after Tuesday’s 1-0 Champions League home loss to Bayern Munich.
It’s a chagrin to the Ligue1 giant that the former Real Madrid player and manager who has been linked to PSG have now been tasked to work on equal opportunities at Alpine.
The four-time Champions League hero with Real Madrid as a player (2002) and manager (2016, 2017, and 2018) revealed he is delighted to be part of team Alpine’s and said he is looking forward to sharing his experience, professionalism, commitment, and passion with the F1 team.
Zidane said: “I’m very happy to be here today and to spend a great evening with you.”
“I’ve seen great things and I’m ever so happy to be part of this team, the Alpine team and to be with you tonight.“
Zidane explained how he met Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi and the French carmaker’s team last year in Monaco and said he was interested in their project.
He added: “They had the plan to give youth equal opportunities and I was interested in that. I had a bit of time too and you have to shine a light on interesting projects.”
The Alpine’s programs include Rac(H)er, which is aimed at promoting equal opportunities for both men and women in racing.
In the words of Alpine CEO Rossi, she said Alpine’s industry is driven towards bridging the gap between men and women to create equal opportunities through racing.
Rossi said: “Rac(H)er is key in our continuous quest for performance, to build the future of our industry by driving real change and creating equal and fair opportunities across a range of human talents.”
Alpine finished fourth in the constructors’ standings in 2022, with 342 points behind Mercedes in third.
Zinedine Zidane who joined his home-country F1 team Alpine as an ambassador has confirmed he intends to be a football manager once again.
The 50-year-old Frenchman admitted his managerial ambitions as he added: “Now I have time… but I don’t know for how long. I know I want to coach again.
“Maybe I will have time until June, but things can go very fast — for sure, to resume coaching remains my desire.”
