Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday threatened to quit the Parc des Princes ground, which has been their home for almost 50 years, after city officials refused to sell the stadium to them.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said in an interview published in Saturday’s Le Parisien newspaper that the stadium “is not for sale” and “will not be sold” to Qatari-owned PSG.
However, a spokesman for the club said he was “disappointed and surprised” that the city wanted to “turn Paris Saint-Germain and their supporters out of the Parc des Princes.”
Photo: AFP
“The mayor is forcing PSG to leave its home,” he said.
PSG has made acquisition of the ground in the city’s leafy western suburbs a condition for carrying out 500 million euros (US$541.59 million) in modernization and expansion works.
In November last year, PSG president Nasser al-Khelaifi told Spanish sports daily Marca that PSG was “no longer welcome” at the Parc des Princes, adding that they were looking at “other alternatives.”
“They are pressuring us to leave,” he said, adding that the Qataris had “invested 80 million euros” in a stadium that “is not ours.”
The club has already put in one offer to buy the ground, but Paris Deputy Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire said it only amounted to 40 million euros.
“It’s cheaper than Paredes,” he joked in reference to the Argentine midfielder Leandro Paredes who cost PSG 47 million euros when he joined in 2019.
Inaugurated in 1897 then remodeled in 1972, the former velodrome has been home to the Parisian club since 1974.
The current 30-year lease started in 2014.
“It is a firm and definitive position,” Hidalgo said of the city’s stance. “It is an exceptional piece of heritage for Parisians.”
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