Former club player Jimmy Algerino laments: “I would have reacted badly”

It’s a demonstration that could continue for months to come. Paris City Hall and Paris Saint-Germain have entered into a long-distance duel over the Parc des Princes, the stadium currently played by PSG. Parisian leaders want to buy the stadium, which is currently owned by Paris City Hall. The club aims to increase the size of the stadium to accommodate more people. An idea Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo flatly rejects.

“This is a firm and definitive position. This is the exclusive heritage of Parisians,” the elected socialist told readers of daily Le Parisien. The municipal team said it was open to dialogue so far, even if a sale was not its “priority option”. Following the publication, a club spokesman said he was “disappointed and surprised” that the town hall wanted to “exclude Paris Saint-Germain and its supporters from the Parc des Princes”.

“The mayor is forcing PSG to leave his house,” he laments. The club reiterates that it needs its own stadium, larger than the current 45,000 seats, a modest capacity compared to its European rivals, and seating between 60,000 and 90,000.

Stade de France variant

Looking at the wall erected by the Paris city hall, he now seems to have aspirations elsewhere. Two situations could arise for the capital club: first, renting a new stadium like the existing Satde de France. “When Qatar came to PSG in 2010-2011, contact was made with the Stade de France because they were looking for a resident club, which they had never found for 25 years. PSG would then build the Stade de Stade de France. 80,000 spectators per match or it almost will,” explained Jean-Francois Perez, head of the sports department in the program. Europe 1 Sports (every evening from 20:00 to 23:00).

Relegation is therefore a threat voiced by Paris Saint-Germain, who are trying by all means to please the mayor of Paris. The club specifically emphasized that it had invested 85 million euros in a device that did not belong to it, and that the municipality had refused to sell it, sitting on the promise of the Qatari owners to inject “an additional 500 million euros”. Modernize and expand the Porte de Saint-Cloud security.

“Greed”

“Obviously, such a huge investment will only be made by PSG if we own the Parc des Princes,” the club complained recently. “By rejecting our very important investment (…) the mayor imposes a tax burden of several million euros on Parisian taxpayers,” insisted a PSG spokesman, “which is more than 50 years old and in need of a complete overhaul. to maintain the structure of the stadium. “.

The PSG leader, for his part, pointed to the “greed” of the mayor of Paris, adding that the club “does not want to be a hostage of the town hall in these negotiations.” This source even led to “financial suicide”, because the municipality “will have to pay 30 million euros just to bring it into compliance with environmental standards, the stadium is not at all “green” in its current state, at some point Mrs. Hidalgo decided to deceive the chosen environmentalists with this decision.”

Stalled state

The former presidential candidate of the Socialist Party did not express the assumption that he will leave the club. “Even if part of the stadium is on the ring road, we must support PSG’s desire and need for renovation, capacity increase and modernization,” he said. The former velodrome, first opened in 1897 and later in 1972 with its new architecture, has been home to the Paris club since 1974. The current lease term, effective in 2014, is thirty years.

It is therefore a situation that stands and worries the supporters, but also worries the former figures of the club who have Parc des Princes genes in their skin. “I would react badly because we can’t imagine Paris Saint-Germain playing anywhere other than the Parc des Princes. We are threatening to leave the Parc, the club is talking about building its own stadium outside Paris, it would be a new game. story and even a new club,” said former club player Jimmy Algerino Europe 1 Sports.

Are you building a new stadium? “It is not possible”

But the construction of a new stadium for the latter seems impossible. “The vision of the Qataris does not go beyond five to ten years, and if you want to build as Qatar and its owners want, it will take at least five to ten years, so it is almost impossible,” he said.

Since 2011 and the takeover of PSG by QSI (Qatar Sports Investments), the club of planet stars Leo Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar has won eight French championships and notably six French Cups. But he failed to conquer the Champions League, his main goal, failing in the final in 2020.