PSG threaten to leave Parc des Princes after city refuses to sell to club

Paris, Jan 14, 2023 (AFP) - Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday threatened to quit the Parc des Princes - which has been their home for almost 50 years - after city officials refused to sell the stadium to them.

City mayor Anne Hidalgo said in an interview published in Saturday's 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."

"The mayor is forcing PSG to leave its home."

He added: "Everyone loses in the position taken by the mayor. PSG is now forced to find alternative options to relocate the club.

"This is not the outcome the club, nor its supporters, were hoping for."

PSG have made acquisition of the ground in the city's leafy western suburbs a condition for carrying out modernization and expansion works to the tune of €500 million.

In November, PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi told Spanish sports daily Marca that PSG were "no longer welcome" at the Parc des Princes, adding that they were looking at "other alternatives."

"They are pressuring us to leave," he said, insisting that the Qataris had "invested €80 million" before Euro 2016 in a stadium which "is not ours."

The club has already put in one offer to buy the ground, but according to Hidalgo's deputy, Emmanuel Gregoire, it only amounted to €40 million.

"It's cheaper than Paredes," he joked in reference to the Argentine midfielder Leandro Paredes, who cost PSG €47 million when he joined in 2019.

Inaugurated in 1897 then remodeled in 1972, the former velodrome, with its 48,000 capacity, has been home to the Parisian club since 1974.

The current 30-year lease kicked in in 2014.

"It is a firm and definitive position," added Hidalgo on the city's stance.

"It is an exceptional piece of heritage for Parisians."

Her team said it's ready to discuss the ground issue, even if the sale is not her "priority option."

"We must support PSG in its desire and its need for renovation, for increasing capacity, for modernizing the Parc," she said, adding that "part of the stadium is on the ring road so we cannot dig."