Events

PSG to contest ‘home’ Trophée des Champions at Parc des Princes

Featured image credit: Zakarie Faibis/CC BY-SA 4.0/Edited for size

Paris Saint-Germain will play out the 2023 Trophée des Champions at home after France’s Professional Football League (LFP) declared that its Parc des Princes will replace Bangkok’s Rajamangala National Stadium as the venue for the event.

Bangkok was announced as host venue for the 2023 Trophée des Champions back in March. The annual meeting between the Ligue 1 champion (PSG) and winner of the Coupe de France (Toulouse) was due to take place at the 51,550-seat stadium in the Thai capital on August 5.

The LFP had partnered with Thai promoter Fresh Air Festival (FAF) to stage the game. However, the relationship broke down leading to the LFP declaring in June that a new hosting plan would be sought.

The 28th edition of the Trophée des Champions will now take place at the Parc des Princes on January 3. Last year’s Trophée des Champions was held at Tel Aviv’s Bloomfield Stadium for the second year running, with PSG defeating Nantes 4-0 on July 31. The event relaunched in its current incarnation in 1995, being held in France through to 2009. That year, the game was staged at Stade Olympique in Montreal, Canada.

This triggered a run of Trophée des Champions outside of France, but COVID-19 led to the 2020-21 fixture being played at Stade Bollaert-Delelis, home of Ligue 1 club RC Lens. This was the last occasion the game was staged domestically.

The LFP has taken the Trophée des Champions to a number of countries in recent years. The 2019 and 2018 matches were staged at the Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre, with China also playing host in 2014 with the Workers’ Stadium in Beijing. Montreal has staged the event twice at the Stade Olympique and Stade Saputo, respectively, in 2009 and 2015.

The Trophée des Champions has also been taken to the Stade de Tanger in Morocco twice, in 2011 and 2017. Stade de l’Amitié in Libreville, Gabon, played host in 2013, while Africa was also the destination in 2010 with the Hamadi Agrebi Stadium in Tunis, Tunisia.

In 2012, the Trophée des Champions headed to the United States with Red Bull Arena in New Jersey, while its 2016 edition was held at the Wörthersee Stadion in Klagenfurt, Austria.