For PSG supporters, the year starts with good news. And she’s not athletic. A few hours before carefully observing the first steps of their team in 2024 during the Champions Trophy against Toulouse, they learned that their club was going to abandon the track leading to the Stade de France. For more than a year now, Paris has been in open conflict with Paris City Hall over the acquisition of the Parc des Princes.
Faced with Anne Hidalgo’s hitherto inflexible position to sell the Porte d’Auteuil enclosure, the Parisian leaders had threatened a move to the Stade de France. Last April, they even announced that they would be a candidate for the purchase of the arena based in Saint-Denis. Eight months later, the project is well and truly buried to the delight of most PSG fans. Some, moreover, did not mince their words
“It is obviously good news that PSG is not positioning itself on the Stade de France which is soulless and absolutely not suited to football,” rejoices Charly, a long-time subscriber to the Auteuil tribune. “I am reassured that we are withdrawing from this possible sale. The walls of our stadium exude a magic that would have died in Saint-Denis,” admits Iban.
“Going elsewhere would be a disappointment for most supporters”
In their words, the supporters we met before the Champions Trophy recount their attachment to Parisian history. To this unique symbol that is the Parc des Princes. “The heart of PSG is the Park, it’s here. This is where it all began, this is where everything must end. We must expand it, of course, but we must stay there. Going anywhere else would be a disappointment for most fans. There are no other solutions for me,” says Alex.
One of them, however, departs somewhat from the ambient tone and was already planning on the future. “The Stade de France would have been good. I was not opposed to it. The ideal, in my opinion, would be if we could renovate it, says Mohammed. We have the means, the Qataris can expand or even buy the stadium but Madam Mayor is tough. The renovation, the decoration, we all need to improve. Buying another stadium or changing the name altogether would not be good. »
Other voices are now calling on Anne Hidalgo, the city councilor of Paris, to resume discussions and let go. “Now Paris City Hall must do the job and sell the Park to PSG so that capacity can increase and we have a stadium worthy of the team’s European rank,” continues Charly. I really hope from the bottom of my heart that Anne Hidalgo will come to her senses and sell the Parc des Princes to PSG. It’s essential. »
Sale or new long-term lease under advantageous conditions, the solution is far from being found but it seems that the time to renew the dialogue, to finally find a solution, has come after a very long lying poker.
