Parc des Princes in Paris, France
Featured image credit: Tim L. Productions on Unsplash
The City of Paris is reportedly seeking the green light to take legal action to cancel Région Île-de-France’s move to reserve land for a potential new stadium for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), with the new CEO of the Ligue 1 football club stating its relationship with the City remains at a standstill.
Elected officials in Region Île-de-France last month voted in favour of reserving a package of land of around 50 hectares, as part of a wider Environmental Master Plan (Sdrif-e). The exact location of the site has not yet been specified, but Montigny-le-Bretonneux and Aulnay-souse-Bois have expressed an interest in housing a stadium.
Le Parisien has now reported that the City of Paris will present to the Paris Council tomorrow (Thursday) a proposal that would authorise it to take legal action to cancel the amendment made by Region Île-de-France. This called for the “creation of a regional envelope to make possible sports projects of regional interest such as the future PSG stadium or the sporting heritage of the Élancourt hill (Yvelines)”.
First Deputy Mayor of Paris, Patrick Bloche, said: “This is bad manners by the Region. Suddenly, without warning, the day before the final vote on the Sdrif-e, an amendment was introduced to reserve 50 hectares without location, without consultation… and contrary to everything that concerns the regulations for the development of such a document.”
It was revealed in February that Valérie Pécresse, President of the Regional Council of Île-de-France, was canvassing leaders of towns within the region to see whether they could accommodate a new stadium for PSG.
Pécresse announced that the region, in which Paris is located, would “open up all possibilities for a stadium outside Paris”. At the time, Pécresse stated that while she believes that PSG belongs at its current home, the Parc des Princes, she “had been contacted by the president of the club (Nasser Al-Khelaifi) to assess other sites in Île-de-France”.
Earlier in February, Al-Khelaifi stated that PSG would seek to move from the Parc des Princes following the City of Paris’ definitive declaration that the stadium is not for sale.
On February 6, the City moved to end the prospect of PSG acquiring the Parc des Princes, with Mayor Anne Hidalgo stating “the subject is closed”. The Council of Paris voted in favour of ensuring that PSG’s current home will remain the property of the City and will not be made available for sale, as the club has been hoping.
Relations between the City and PSG over the future of the Parc des Princes have been at a standstill for some time, with the situation becoming increasingly fractious. PSG is currently engaged in a 30-year lease deal for the Parc with the City, which is due to expire at the end of 2043.
PSG is owned by Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) and the club has been forthright in its belief that the acquisition of the stadium is essential to it conducting a proposed expansion from the current capacity of around 48,000 to 60,000.
Bloche said: “The Parc is a heritage facility that belongs to all Parisians. It is not for sale even if its current user wants to acquire it . But we also want PSG to continue to be the user.”
Regarding the Region’s move, he added: “Even if we don’t know where these 50 hectares are, this runs the risk of artificialisation of agricultural land.
“We heard about a pretty crazy project that we could call PSG Land – concerts, cinemas, shops, a whole commercial, restaurant and hotel system, in addition to a stadium for 80,000 spectators. A pretty crazy real estate project, probably requiring the artificialisation of land.”
The latest developments in the ongoing saga come with PSG yesterday (Tuesday) appointing Victoriano Melero as its CEO. Melero has essentially served in an interim CEO role since the announcement in January 2023 of Jean-Claude Blanc’s departure to head up the sports division of global chemicals company Ineos.
Following the announcement of his appointment, Melero gave an interview to Le Parisien in which he conceded the development of a new stadium would be a very long-term project, taking at least eight years to deliver.
He said: “We are still exploring, several projects are on the table to accommodate a 60,000-seat stadium. It’s complicated, we’re not going to hide it. You need a sufficient surface area, there are legislative and environmental constraints. There aren’t dozens of locations, but there are some.”
Melero said discussions with Paris City Hall remain at a standstill. He continued: “For our future 60,000-seat stadium, the specifications are clear: one of the conditions is to be an owner. And this condition is not met by the Parc des Princes. There were discussions about a sale for several months. And there was an about-face. Since then, there have been no more discussions.
“It’s true there is a very strong attachment to the Parc des Princes . But look at Lyon, Atlético (de Madrid), Arsenal. They have all moved away from their original location and it’s a success. The challenge is to make this new stadium a destination.”
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