PSG use every muscle to buy Stade de France

Article posted by Coliseum, April 20^th, 2023

Image: Stade de France, Zakarie Faibis, CC BY-SA 4.0

Have the leaders of the Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain F.C. (France) have ended up deciding on their future enclosure?

‘UK Daily News’ stated that the capital club is preparing to submit a file to buy the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, France, on April 27^th. Since the head honcho of the top-flight Nasser al-Khelaïfi wants to expand his stadium, be able to host a Champions League final (minimum 60,000 seats are required) and significantly increase ticketing and hospitality revenue, he is preparing to pull out all the stops. A solution of the least worse after the failure of the negotiations with the Town Hall of Paris concerning the repurchase of the Parc des Princes.

The Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG, is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As France’s most successful club, they have won over 40 official honors, including 10 league titles and one major European trophy. Their home ground is the Parc des Princes.

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The 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 16^th 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 Paris Saint-Germain since 1974.

The Stade de France is the national stadium of France, located just North of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the sixth-largest stadium in Europe. The stadium is used by the France national football team and the France rugby union team for international competition.

Last year, French giants PSG was embroiled in a row with the Paris City Council over the former very keen to buy their home ground the Le Parc des Princes in Paris, France, and the latter in no mood to sell it to the top gun as they stated that the club was offering “peanuts money” to buy the stadium.

al-Khelaïfi had earlier hinted at the possibility of moving across town to the 80,000-seater Stade de France in Saint-Denis, France, following their futile bid to buy the Parc des Princes after repeated attempts.

‘UK Daily News’ further stated that it should be noted that the State launched, at the beginning of March, a call for tenders concerning the ‘Stade de France operating concession’, currently in the hands of the Vinci-Bouygues consortium. And another on the “sale of the Stade de France with charges”.

PSG wants to buy the Dionysian enclosure from him. The file should be judged 70 percent on the financial capacities of the candidate for redemption, the rest on the ability to manage the site. The Paris Saint-Germain should be the only one to come forward as a resident club, but could face other competitors such as investment funds for example.

Conditions Galore

The State requires applicants to meet several criteria. In particular, the maintenance of “the sporting vocation of Stade for a period of 25 years”. And, therefore, prioritize the hosting of matches of the XV of France, major international events, etc… After studying the calendar, the leaders of PSG already consider the hosting of the French rugby team as compatible.

Still, the Stade de France must be downgraded to be sold. A passage through a legislative vote is, therefore, necessary because the equipment belongs to the Estates, in other words to the State’s housing stock. Who has also estimated its price at 647 million euros. An amount that the Ministry of Sports would like to see reduced so as not to put off potential buyers.

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