His word is rare. We were waiting for his reaction after the elimination of PSG in the knockout stages of the Champions League against Real Madrid, but the president of PSG Nasser Al-Khelaïfi gave an interview to the BBC under different hats including that of president of the Association of European Clubs (ECA). The Qatari leader first reaffirmed his firm opposition to the stillborn European Super League project, of which he has always refused to be a part.
“With ESL or non-ESL – I hate to say Super League – you are talking about three clubs, thunders the Qatari. They know there is no chance. People are dying in Ukraine and have nowhere to sleep – and we are fighting for the Super League? The problem with ESL clubs is that they don’t have stability, they don’t have a long-term financial vision. The PSG president continues: “I could have accepted the check for 400 million euros from the ESL because they invited me. Then when I said no, they said they didn’t invite me – that sums them up. If I had only thought of myself, I could have done it, especially during the Covid. But what about the ecosystem and the fans we represent? I advocate an open system, under the aegis of a governing body, where everyone is respected. »
Al-Khelaïfi defends the new financial fair play
In the rest of the interview, the president of PSG attacks the two big clubs of La Liga, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. He claims to have “been very hard” with Florentino Perez, his Madrid counterpart and observes that “FC Barcelona is a club owned by its supporters, with a debt of 1.5 billion euros. ” ” Does it work ? he wonders? The Parisian boss, who claims to have received offers of several billion euros to buy PSG, then talks about possible investments in Paris thanks to a sovereign fund.
“Our investment in PSG does not only help a club, imagine that PSG is not part of the French League: where would the league find an investment fund to inject 1.5 billion euros, which will to small clubs to invest? When you look at all of our work, it raised the bar. »
Finally, he takes advantage of the interview to defend the new financial fair play and affirms that this does not necessarily favor PSG. “Do you think, even if I am the president of the ECA, that a club can do something that the other 246 clubs and all the other stakeholders do not want? It’s crazy, but people like to think that I have an overall plan, that it corresponds to an established scenario. As club president, if you told me there was a salary cap, I would be the first to sign. »
