Henri Delaunay French Football Federation in 1919, he remained as secretary-general. As a member of FIFA, he sat on its board as deputy from 1924 until 1928. Along with Jules Rimet, he was an early architect of the FIFA World Cup. He was also a very early proponent of the European Champions Cup, as early as the 1920s. Together with Jules Rimet, he was largely responsible for the creation of the European Football Championship, the trophy of which is named after him, having first proposed it in 1927. The first tournament took place in 1960. He was General Secretary of UEFA from
Intercontinental Cup (football) the Copa Libertadores. The competition was not officially endorsed by FIFA, and in 1961 they refused to allow it tok take place unless the participants gave it a "private friendly match" status. However, the competition went on regardless, with the endorsement of UEFA and CONMEBOL; both federations consider all editions of the tournament to have been official, and include them in their records. It was the brainchild of UEFA president Henri Delaunay, who also helped Jules Rimet in the realization of the inaugural FIFA World Cup in 1930. Initially played over two legs, with a third match if required in