Parc des Princes still not for sale

Image: Parc des Princes, Zakarie Faibis, CC BY-SA 4.0

Paris City Council is standing firm on its decision not to sell Parc des Princes to French Ligue 1 club Paris St Germain (PSG).

Le Parisien said the council believes the venue is part of the heritage of the city and the stance comes a year after Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo closed the door by announcing that the Park “will not be sold.”

Parc des Princes is an all-seater football stadium in Paris, France. It is located to the South-West of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement, near the 19,904-capacity Stade Jean-Bouin and Stade Roland Garros.

The stadium, with a seating capacity of 47,929 spectators, has been the home of football club PSG since 1974.

PSG, engaged until the end of 2043 in a 30-year- long lease with the town hall, owner, considers the acquisition of the stadium essential to carry out its expansion project to 60,000 seats.

But the municipal assembly has reinforced the ‘not for sale’ position, requesting that the modernization of the venue “be carried out within the framework of an arrangement satisfactory to all parties but not involving its transfer.”

Deputy for sport Pierre Rabadan said, “We have wanted from the start for PSG to stay at the Parc des Princes but we do not wish to cede Parisian heritage.”

He stressed that the town hall had spent four years on an expansion project between 2018 and 2022. But he said discussions with PSG stopped the day they said the expansion work would be carried out on condition that they could buy the stadium.

The two sides have been at loggerheads ever since, with no sign of a thawing in the relationship.

Le Parisien further stated that faced with the persistent stalemate, mayor of the 16th arrondissement, Jérémy Redler, has warned that “the major risk is to see PSG leave the Park” and that the municipality would be obliged to “assume all the investment costs for an empty stadium.”

At the beginning of January 2024, deputies Emmanuel Grégoire and Pierre Rabadan called on PSG to resume dialogue, saying they wanted to give it “guarantees” on a very long-term rental.

Meanwhile in January, PSG withdrew its interest in acquiring the iconic Stade de France, despite showing interest in taking over the stadium last year.

The club’s Qatari owner, QSI, is now looking to focus on other projects, including the expansion of Parc des Princes or building a new stadium.

PSG’s withdrawal stems from the complexity of the Stade de France deal and a preference to focus on acquiring and expanding the Parc des Princes or building a new stadium.

The nation’s valuation of the Stade de France has been set at €647 million, although that figure does not reflect its real cost as it doesn’t factor in the needed additional costs for renovations in order to adapt the stadium for weekly use at the top-tier of professional sports.

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