Pulse increasingly tense between the president of the PSG, Nasser Al-Khelaifiand the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo. The set owned by Qatar and the City Council of the French capital are at odds over the future of the Princes Park. Built in 1972, this venue has hosted PSG matches since the mid-1970s, but it has always belonged to the Parisian municipality. Al-Khelaifi now wants to acquire it and turn it into the main economic asset of the Parisian team, which last season registered some losses of 370 million euroshidden by the financial backing of petrodollars.
Hidalgo, however, opposes the sale of the Parque de los Príncipes and has apparently left the matter settled. “I say it very clearly. The Park of the Princes It is not for sale and we will not sell it.. It is a firm and definitive position”, assured the socialist mayoress in an interview for the newspaper The Parisian, published last Sunday. “This is an exceptional heritage of Parisians”, she added.
Most of the great french football stadiums —from the Parc des Princes to the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, via the Velodrome in Marseille— are from public ownership, with the sole exception of the field of Olympique de Lyon. Despite his wallet, Al-Khelaïfi will not have an easy time changing this policy. In addition, the offer made by the PSG management to acquire the stadium was considered an offense by the City Council. “PSG offered us 40 million. Do you really think that the Park is worth less than Leandro Paredes? It’s not serious,” criticized Emmanuel Grégoire, Hidalgo’s number two.
PSG threatens to leave the Parc des Princes
Al-Khelaïfi started a media offensive a few months ago to twist the arm of the Parisian municipality. “Paris deserves a better stadium. (…) Our first option is to stay in the Parque de los Príncipes, but the City Council forces us to leave”, he said from Qatar during the celebration of the World Cup. These statements occurred in the midst of the discrepancies, which began years ago, over the expansion of the stadium. With a capacity of 48,000 spectators, the field has become too small for PSG of the Messi, Mbappe and Neymar.
Both the club and the City Council agree on the need for an extension, but disagree on the ambition of the reform. While the Parisian municipality is betting on the incorporation of a new stand that will increase the capacity to around 60,000, the Qataris would like to demolish the field and build a new one. To do this, they want to become the owners of the Park.
Faced with the municipal government’s refusal to sell —is it a definitive position or a negotiation strategy?—, the PSG board has threatened to leave the Parque de los Príncipes. However, the possibility of moving to the Stade de France seems unlikely, especially due to the many rugby matches and the French national soccer team that take place there, as well as the athletics competitions or concerts that are held there. The fact of build a new stadium In a town on the outskirts of the capital it would not be easy either, taking into account the lack of available land with a good connection to public transport. “In the best of cases they would need 15 years,” warned Grégoire.
