2024-01-10 00:58:48
“Calling me racist is defamation, and is not at the level of the issues of this important debate. » Relations between the elected officials of the capital and Nasser Al-Khelaïfi are not about to improve at this rate. Indirectly targeted by the president of PSG in an interview given this Tuesday to Parisien-Aujourd’hui en France, David Belliard, deputy (EELV) to the mayor of Paris, wants to defend himself. One more step in the deterioration of relations between the City and the capital club.
For a year, dialogue has broken down between the two camps. A quarrel triggered after the boycott of the Football World Cup in Qatar by the City of Paris, and which has since blocked negotiations on the future of the Parc des Princes. PSG wishes to buy the enclosure to remain there, when Anne Hidalgo (PS) firmly opposes this and proposes that the club remain tenants for a very long period.
Last week, we believed in a possible rapprochement. On Wednesday January 3, Le Parisien revealed that PSG had abandoned the idea of moving to the Stade de France. All that remained was the difficult option of having a new stadium built, or the more feasible option of remaining at the Parc de Princes by reaching an agreement with the City of Paris. News that delighted Emmanuel Grégoire, first deputy (PS) of Anne Hidalgo. The latter, in an interview with Le Parisien, once again invited Nasser Al-Khelaïfi to the negotiating table, refusing however to comment on the possible options between sale or rental.
“Maybe a judge should look at that”
The next day, however, David Belliard started things up again. Also deputy mayor of Paris, but a member of the environmentalists, he expressed his firm disagreement with any sale of the Park to PSG in an interview on Sud Radio. “We do not want the sale of the Parc des Princes to Qatar, or in any case the sale of the Parc des Princes. » Then added, after emphasizing that PSG and therefore Qatar had enough money to take on possible work, that “as a Parisian elected official, I will oppose any sale of the Park , whether to Qatar or other private interests. »
An outing which clearly did not please Nasser Al-Khelaïfi. This Tuesday, in an interview with Le Parisien, the president of PSG reacted strongly. And wonders about the reasons for this positioning of David Belliard. “Some say we are resuming discussions, others we are not selling to Qatar. Is it because we are Arabs, I don’t know? Is it legal to say that? I don’t know, I don’t think so. » To the question, “Do you find this position racist?” », the president replies: “I think so. Maybe a judge should look at that. We are in France, the country of freedom. I don’t understand. Is there something with Qatar? »
Regardless of nationality, David Belliard opposes the sale of the Park
An accusation which David Belliard vigorously defends. “I have explicitly indicated that I will oppose the sale of the Park to the Qataris, current tenants via PSG, as well as any other private interest. These are my exact words that everyone can find in my interview, he insists, interviewed by Le Parisien. Yes, I accept the fact that I will oppose the sale of this Parisian heritage to private interests, whatever their nationality. I believe that this must remain a common good and therefore a municipal good. » The conditions for a peaceful resumption of negotiations between the City of Paris and PSG therefore seem far from being met. Nasser Al-Khelaïfi repeats it: if the City does not sell, PSG will leave. “A big club must own its stadium. It is urgent to make a decision,” he concludes.
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