Three investors, including two based in the US, have agreed to buy Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), owner Canal Plus television said yesterday.
Private investment firm Colony Capital, investment bank Morgan Stanley and French private investment firm Butler Capital Partners will take control of the two-time French league champion, Canal Plus said.
Former PSG director Alain Cayzac will take over for president Pierre Blayau, it said.
No financial details of the deal were immediately released.
The deal had been rumored to be in the works. Canal Plus has owned PSG for 15 years but recently asked a London-based broker to find a buyer.
Le Parisien newspaper reported last week that Colony Capital and former Lille president Luc Dayan were expected to invest about 70 million euros (US$84 million) in the club and speculated that coach Guy Lacombe could be replaced at the end of the season.
Unpopular
Blayau has been unpopular with fans since firing coach Laurent Fournier in December.
Blayau was suspended for three months by a soccer ethics panel last week after a clash with rival Marseille over ticketing arrangements.
PSG, which was docked a point last week in the ticketing affair, is in eighth place with 50 points, five points off the third Champions League place with five games remaining. However, it has scored eight goals in its past three games.
Cayzac is a popular figure with fans. Last year he attempted a joint takeover bid with then president Francis Graille. The move was blocked by Canal Plus, and Graille was later fired.
Fraud
Graille is one of several former PSG figures being investigated for fraud and use of fraud involving player transfers to and from the club.
At the start of the season, Canal Plus had set PSG a goal of reaching the Champions League with at least a top-three finish. When Blayau fired Fournier, PSG was one point away from third place.
Although PSG still has an outside chance of reaching the UEFA Cup, it trails league leader Lyon by 25 points and has won only two away matches this season -- one of the poorest records in the league.
An ongoing and vicious hooligan problem between rival sets of PSG fans has also angered Canal Plus, which fears its image is being dented by being associated with the team.
The Kansas City Chiefs wrapped up a brief visit to Brazil on Friday with a season-opening loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, but despite the defeat, the team outshone their divisional rivals in the fight for the hearts and minds of Brazilian fans. In Sao Paulo for just the second-ever NFL game in the city, Chiefs players — especially quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce — were treated as major celebrities throughout their stay, turning Corinthians Arena into a scene reminiscent of the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium. Before kickoff, crowds of fans gathered around the Chiefs’ tunnel, eager to catch a
New Zealand stayed firm at their Eden Park fortress to claim an attritional 24-17 win over South Africa in a heavyweight clash between the world’s top two rugby sides yesterday. Under pressure after conceding a first-ever defeat on Argentine soil against the Pumas two weeks ago, the All Blacks responded with a performance of grit and discipline to stretch their unbeaten run at their Auckland stronghold to 51 matches. Two well-taken tries by Emoni Narawa and Will Jordan set up a 14-3 lead at halftime before Quinn Tupaea grabbed a third five-pointer for the hosts 13 minutes from time. Well-held for most of
The Wallabies trusted their instincts to keep pushing for a late try instead of a potential equalizing penalty goal late in their Rugby Championship Test match yesterday against Argentina, with prop Angus Bell scoring the clinching try in the sixth minute of added time to give Australia a comeback 28-24 win. The Wallabies were awarded three kickable penalties after the 80th minute, but kept pushing in search of the match-winning try, which was finally delivered by an unlikely hero in reserve prop Bell. “It’s just relieving,” Bell said. “It’s just awesome we could get the win in the end; not go for
RETURN TO FORM: Osaka extended her deepest run in a Grand Slam since returning to tennis after giving birth, putting her in a position to lift the trophy for a third time Reigning champion Jannik Sinner on Wednesday marched into the US Open quarter-finals as Amanda Anisimova avenged her Wimbledon thrashing by Iga Swiatek to set up a last-four clash with Naomi Osaka. World No. 1 Sinner swept aside 10th seed Lorenzo Musetti 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in the first all-Italian men’s quarter-final in Grand Slam history. “It was a great performance, very solid. I started the match very well,” said Sinner, who faces Canadian 25th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in the semi-finals today. Auger-Aliassime has won two of three previous meetings, but Sinner thrashed him for the loss of just two games in Cincinnati last month. “Every
RSS