Paris Saint-Germain has decided to opt out of a concession deal that would have made the Stade de France its new home stadium.
The Ligue 1 champions had initially held interest in moving across the French capital after the government announced that the national stadium is up for a new operator, setting a deadline of 3 January for applicants to submit their interest.
However, PSG decided not to apply for a Fin Infra for stadium rights and will reportedly look instead to revive plans to gain full ownership of its current home stadium, the Parc des Princes.
According to a report by Les Parisien, Qatar Sports Investment (QSI) – PSG’s majority owner – and club President Nasser Al-Khelaifi “seriously studied” an application for the Stade de France and the possibility of making the 80,000 plus stadium the new home for the club.
Making the Stade de France the new home of PSG would have caused complications to international football and rugby fixtures that are hosted at the stadium, which the government categorically wanted to remain there.
Despite this, QSI will instead look to begin the process of a full acquisition of the Parc de Princes and, if successful in doing so, will kickstart plans to begin a €500m redevelopment project of the stadium.
The Ligue 1 club aims to raise the capacity of the Parc de Princes to 60,000 plus to meet the demands of its growing brand across Europe.
Bolstered by the fresh investment from Arctos, who became a minority shareholder of the French club last December, PSG has held long-standing ambitions of developing the Parc des Princes but has continually ran into issues in fully acquiring the stadium.
Reports from Paris have revealed that PSG’s plans to renovate the stadium are impossible without owning it, as its concession of the Parc des Princes limits its potential to do so.
In November 2022, QSI and Al-Khelaifi’s bid to buy the Parc des Princes was denied by the Paris City Council and its Mayor Anne Hidalgo, subsequently leading to reports of the club’s ambition to move to the Stade de France.
