Official: Claude Onesta retires

Official: Claude Onesta confirms to L'Equipe that will not be on the French bench at the World Championship in France in January 2017. Instead he becomes the general manager of the French Handball Federation, FFHB. Didier Dinart is the new national coach of France. Guillaume Gille becomes his assistant coach.

Photo: Wikipedia

Written by: Rasmus Boysen

According to Handball-Planet.com the rumors say that the legendary head coach of France, Claude Onesta, leaves the job to his assistant coach Didier Dinart with imediate effect.

The 59-year-old French coach, who has won everything as a national coach, was expected to retire after the World Championship on homeground in France in January 2017. But according to the rumors of Handball-Planet.com it will be announced on the official press conference of the World Championship next Wednesday, that the legendary Frenchman instead retires with immediate effect.

His successor, accordingly the 39-year-old current assistant coach Didier Dinart, has already taken the charge of the French bench more and more. The new assistant coach of France will allegedly be the former French national player Guillaume Gille, who previously has played in HSV Hamburg and Chambéry Savoie.

The era of Onesta, which started in 2001, has resulted in 2 Olympic gold medals (2008 & 2012), 3 World Championship gold medals (2009, 2011 & 2015) and 3 European Championship gold medals (2006, 2010 & 2014), and has made the French national team the most successful national team ever.

Before Onesta became the national coach of France he was the head coach of Toulouse Handball from 1987 to 2001.