Coveted by Paris Saint-Germain, which wishes to own its stadium, the Parc des Princes will not be sold, assures the mayor of Paris.
The Prince’s Parkis not for sale” and “will not be sold” at Paris Saint-Germain, who aspired to buy him from the town hall of Paris, decides the mayor Anne Hidalgo in an interview with the readers of the Parisian aired Saturday.
The Qatari owners of PSG have threatened to leave the historic grounds of the club if it is not ceded to them, a condition according to them for carrying out modernization and expansion works to the tune of 500 million euros.
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Helping PSG is yes, but selling the Park is no for Hidalgo
“This is a firm and definitive position. It is an exceptional heritage of Parisians“, adds the elected socialist while her team said so far to be open to dialogue, even if the sale was not her”priority option“.
The former PS presidential candidate did not mention the possibility of a departure from the club. “We must support PSG in its desire and need for renovation, increased capacity, modernization of the Park“, even though “part of the stadium is on the ring road, so you can’t dig“, she says.
Inaugurated first in 1897 then in 1972 with its new architecture, the former velodrome, whose capacity is now fixed at 48,000 places, has been home to the Parisian club since 1974. The current emphyteutic lease, which entered into force in 2014, short for thirty years.
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Too low an offer from PSG
At the end of November, the president of PSG Nasser Al-Khelaïfi had dug up the hatchet on this subject. “They’re pressuring us to leave“, had dropped the Qatari leader in a vitriolic interview against the municipality, recalling having “invested 80 million euros– before Euro 2016 – in a stadium that “is not ours“. The club did make a takeover offer, but “very low, very far from the estimate we had“, had then affirmed the sports assistant Pierre Rabadan.
According to a source close to the Parisian club, the assessment made by the city’s urban planning services was “ten times higher than what we had as a price“.
According to first deputy Emmanuel Grégoire quoted by Le Parisien, the amount offered by PSG was 40 million euros. “It’s cheaper than Paredes“, the Argentine midfielder”bought 50 million euros“, he had mocked, attracting the wrath of Mr. Al-Khelaïfi.
“It is disappointing to hear that the Mayor of Paris wants to dislodge Paris Saint-Germain and its supporters from the Parc des Princes while adding tens of millions of euros to Parisian taxpayers to maintain the structure of a stadium which is over 50 years old and needs a complete renovation», Answers the club of the capital through a response sent to the Figaro.
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PSG ready to leave the Park
“PSG and the Parc des Princes are part of the history and heritage of Paris. PSG have already invested more than 85 million euros to maintain the stadium, and have pledged to invest an additional 500 million euros. Our project is to offer fans, and all Parisians, a high-performance stadium to allow PSG to develop and play at the highest level.
It is obvious that such a large investment will only be made by PSG if we become owners of the Parc des Princes. By definitively closing the takeover discussions that began a very long time ago and by refusing our very significant investment to renovate the Park, the Mayor is forcing PSG to leave his house and imposing a tax burden of several million euros on Parisian taxpayers.
Everyone loses in the position taken by the Mayor. Paris Saint-Germain are now forced to find alternative options to relocate the Club, depriving Paris of a major investment for its attractiveness. This is not the outcome that the Club, nor its supporters, were hoping for.»
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