Posted on November 1, 2021 at 9:10 p.m. by DM
Owner of PSG since 2011, Qatar Sports Investments could remain in Paris after the 2022 World Cup organized in the Gulf country.
In 2011, PSG entered a new era. Acquired by QSI , the Parisian club acquired significant resources and made a place for itself in the European elite. Champion of France on multiple occasions in recent years, the French team also reached the final of the Champions League in 2020 and aspire to win this competition in the years to come. At the same time, Qatar took advantage of this acquisition to spread a positive image and it is clear that sports soft power is a great success. But recently a journalist from Goal UK did not rule out a departure of QSI from PSG after the World Cup 2022. “It is difficult to know what will happen then. It could go on forever, or stop immediately. Everything depends on the decision of one man: Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani (the Emir of Qatar) ”explained Tariq Panja .
“The entry of the Saudis in Newcastle would also rather suggest that Qatar will stay in Paris”
But as explained Jean-Baptiste Guégan , specialist in the geopolitics of sport, the model put in place by QSI is a success and has surely inspired Saudi Arabia , which has just taken over Newcastle . While the specialist spoke of the rivalry between Qatar and Saudi Arabia , he indicated that QSI should remain at PSG after the 2022 World Cup. “It's over even if there will always be a memory of this rivalry, you won't not stick a country in blockade for years for nothing but neither Qatar nor Saudi Arabia today have any interest in rebuilding a standoff, already because for Qatar, there is the World Cup in 2022 and the entry of the Saudis in Newcastle would also rather suggest that Qatar will stay in Paris. We could have imagined a disengagement, even latent, but this shows that the strategy is working, that the investment strategy in sport is working, “he told Foot Mercato. And for good reason, the takeover of PSG was a success. “At PSG, today, they have developed a model which means that they no longer necessarily need Qatari funds to be able to be profitable even if this has eased a little with the Covid crisis” explains the journalist Kévin Veyssiere .