The plenary session of the Paris City Council voted this Monday on a resolution that reaffirms “the belonging of the Parque de los Príncipes to the city’s heritage”, which makes his sale to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) difficult.
Within the war that the mayor, the socialist Anne Hidalgo, has been fighting for months with the president of PSG, the Qatari Nasser Al Khelaifi, this maneuver is considered a new episode.
The Qatari owners of the club want to acquire the stadium to be able to invest large sums and expand it, from the current 48,000 seats to 60,000, with which they would like to be on par with the great teams on the continent.
But Al Khelaifi repeats that he will not invest a euro if he is not the owner of the facilities, which clashes with the idea of Hidalgo, who flatly refuses to sell the Parque de los Príncipes.
“I love football, I love my team. I repeat, we are willing to study and accompany the transformations of the Park“said Hidalgo in an interview published this Monday by the French regional newspaper Ouest France.
“I also say it again today and once and for all: there will be no sale of the Parc des Princes. It is the heritage of Parisians. The matter is closed”he added.
The resolution voted today with the majority of the left that supports Hidalgo is one more step to try to force Al Khelaifi to negotiate.
For now, the club pays 2 million euros per year to rent the stadium in a long-term contract that covers until 2044.
But both parties disagree on who should pay the investments to improve and expand a stadium inaugurated in its current configuration in 1972 and which has become somewhat small since the club’s Qatari owners have invested huge amounts of money in soccer stars.
Source: Gestion
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