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[parcdesprinces]

PSG = Pastore, Sirigu & Gameiro



Back in the early mid nineties I enjoyed watching some French football. As a Rangers fan I hated Marseille but I liked seeing PSG and then Monaco. PSG were an exciting but also strong with top players like Youri Djorkaeff, Alain Roche, George Weah, Bernard Lama, Paul Le Guen and the very gifted Brazilian Rai. Monaco then came on the scene complete with young stars like Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet as well as those two the has a Scot in john Collins and had players like Enzo Scifo, Sylvain Legwinski, Fabien Barthez and Sonny Anderson who I admired from a far. Then my French appreciation declined when Lyon dominated in Ligue 1.

Well now in 2011 as the new season gets ready to start, my interest has been rekindled. PSG have been bought over by Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) who are owned by Crowned Prince Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Now I will concentrate on this new Parisian revolution in this article but I should mention that this exciting 2011/12 Ligue 1 season will not involve Monaco as they were relegated at the end of last term… Things certainly have change in France.



Now Qatari influence has been creeping into world football for a few years now The Qatar Foundation became the first sponsors of European champions Barcelona in a deal worth a staggering $200m , they tried to buy Manchester United, Their TV network Al-Jazeera has bought up a lot of TV rights over the world, then there was their successful bid to host the 2022 World Cup and the recent fiasco with FIFA which led to Qatari official Mohammed Bin Hammam being banished from the far from squeaky clean world football governing body.

So its no surprise they have now acquired a European club but has the decision to buy PSG been a surprise?

Well in some ways yes and in others no.

First why yes?

Well the Qatari people love to make the biggest impact so people may have thought that the would go into the Spanish, Italian or English markets with Everton being obvious targets. These leagues give ultimate exposure and have been dominating European football for almost twenty years.

So why no?

Well by purchasing Paris Saint-Germain and by running them properly they will expect European/Champions League qualification each and every season. In France there are less financial competitors to worry about. Ligue 1 has always been a very good league and a place were stars hone their skills before becoming world class talents. Then there is Paris itself, one of the worlds top top cities yet their team have never totally dominated European football. So that is the challenge make a team from the beautiful French capital beat the likes of Barca, Man Utd, the Milan sides and Real Madrid on a regular basis. The city and money can attract top players as it has before but this time they will be able to keep them too!



So what can PSG fans expect now?

Well the new owners have not been slow in getting their new project up on its feet. After helping the club to a top four finish last season former player Antoine Kombouare has kept his job as First Team Coach. I hope he remains there as he is a talented boss who gets the players playing for him. I remember Antoine joining Aberdeen for a few years towards the end of his career and even then he was coaching the players around him and organising the defence in a very structured fashion. He has passion for his job and he seems like a deep thinker. But his new employers have brought in another former PSG player to help him out in the form of former AC and Inter manager Leonardo. An appointment which will surely have Kombouare sleeping with one eye open and he will only truly be satisfied that his job is not already the Brazilians when he gets through a bad spell of results without being sacked.



Leo has came in as Sporting Director, a job he preformed at AC Milan for a few years and for me a job that is more suited to forty-one year old. His links in Brazil and Italy are extremely strong and his ability to spot a player are fantastic just look at the job he did in bringing in Kaka, Alexandre Pato and Thiago Silva to AC. All three counted Leo as a reason for going to Milan. He also becomes very friendly with the players which is maybe why he wasn’t totally successful as a coach as you need that distance, although his tactics could be called into question too. As a Sporting Director he can spot which players to bring in, become their confidant and not interfere with first team affairs and by doing that he be a huge success in Paris. The fact he speaks at least six languages helps immensely as well.

Look out for the French giants now being linked with Neymar, Ganso and Sao Paulo’s Lucas in the future as the QSI will hope Leonardo can persuade some of his countries next generation superstars to join him in Paris.



Leo has already used his links to great affect with Jeremy Menez, Mohamed Sissoko and Salvatore Sirigu all coming in from Serie A. They have also added established Ligue 1 stars with French Internationalists Kevin Gameiro and Blaise Matuidi joining from Lorient and St-Etienne. With those players joining the likes of Mamadou Sakho, Peguy Luyindula, Mathieu Bodmer, Sylvain Armand and Nene then surely PSG were always going to challenge current champions Lille, Lyon and Marseille for next seasons championship.

But the QSI group wanted to make a major statement, they wanted to purchase that marquee signing that would make the whole of European football sit up and take notice. So Menez is talented, Sissoko will strengthen the midfield and Sirgu is a keeper with a huge future but Leo and the Qatari owners needed to make a splash that would get everyone talking.

They took a look around the globe and decided to do battle with Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea for the signature of Argentine International Javier Pastore. They were already dealing with Palermo supremo Maurizio Zamparini over the purchase of Salvatore Sirigu and came up with a £39m deal to be paid in three instalments which the Italian club accepted. It was reported that a similar bid from the London side was also accepted and it was a choice between the two for the twenty-two year old. If true then Paris offered a more suitable package to Javier as it looks like the attacking midfielder will be paraded as a PSG player this week. The deal created the desired affect as all of the football world are now talking about Paris Saint-Germain and their new squad.

So why would Pastore sign for PSG ahead of Chelsea?

Well as cities there is not a lot to choose between London and Paris. Money would be very similar. As projects PSG’s is new and looks exciting with owners up for the challenge of making their side one of the best in Europe, while Chelsea’s look a bit stop start with a lack of direction. At PSG Pastore comes in as the top player and like Rai back in the 90s he can expect most of the attacks to come through him, at the Blues he would not be the main man and would be forever battling with the likes of Frank Lampard, John Terry, Didier Drogba and Fernando Torres for the headlines. Even when negotiating with Palermo, you had a sense that Chelsea really wanted Spurs midfield maestro Luka Modric and maybe Javier got that sense and decided to make the move to France. Plus there is that man Leonardo who Pastore would have met and probably fell in love with!

Their is a new Arab revolution in European football with PSG, Man City and Malaga all splashing their oil laden cash but maybe the purchase of the Parisian club has been the most astute as they were already a big club in their country, have a European history and are probably the most likely to win their league first.

The Ligue 1 championship will be the main target for this maiden season for the mega-rich new owners but a top three finish will get PSG a Champions League spot which is the minimum they want this campaign. But the main aim is to challenge for the top Euro honours which they hope to be doing in within five years.

http://www.thefootyblog.net/

[11G]

Sarkozy orchestrates Qatar's French revolution


Paris Saint-Germain's Javier Pastore, a muscle-flexing French record €42 million signing from Palermo, celebrates with team-mates after scoring in his side's Ligue 1 win against Brest at the Parc des Princes in Paris.


FRENCH FOOTBALL: MATT SPIRO on how the French president reportedly played an instrumental part in turning round Paris Saint-Germain’s fortunes, as well as helping to save the French game from possible financial ruin

TIMES ARE tough for Nicolas Sarkozy. As unemployment in France continues to rise and the euro-zone crisis looms large, the French president’s popularity ratings have sunk to worryingly low levels. Yet the under-fire leader can at least console himself with one pleasing statistic: his favourite soccer team, Paris Saint-Germain, are top of the league.

The observation is not quite as frivolous as it sounds. For a start, Sarkozy and his sons Jean and Pierre are genuine PSG fans, frequently spotted at the Parc des Princes. Furthermore, in the past 12 months, Sarkozy has reportedly played an instrumental part in turning round the capital club’s fortunes, as well as helping save the French game from possible financial ruin.

There were grave fears for the future of Ligue 1 earlier this year. The lucrative television rights deal that had been keeping teams financially viable was up for renewal in 2012, and experts were predicting a gigantic fall in revenue that would threaten the existence of many clubs.

In 2008, the French League (LFP) succeeded in playing Canal Plus off against Orange to secure the impressive sum of €668m per season to share among top-flight clubs. While that figure is dwarfed by the Premier League’s €1,176 million a year, the package puts France above Spain (€542m) and Germany (€412m), and only just behind Italy (€863m), when it comes to TV money. Not bad at all for a league that is considered only the fifth best in Europe.

French soccer, however, has come to rely far too heavily on this source of income. The clubs earn precious little through commercial activities, and low ticket prices and attendances mean gate receipts are also modest.

So when Orange announced they were pulling out of the bidding for the 2012-2016 tender, leaving Canal Plus with a monopoly, panic set in. “There was real concern,” explains Etienne Moatti, L’Equipe’s sports finance expert. “In France, TV rights account for 57 per cent of a club’s revenue. Given that Ligue 1 teams ran an overall deficit of €153m last year, losing this TV money would have had dramatic consequences.”

Certain club chairmen even began wondering if the 2012/13 campaign would go ahead. “We can’t dismiss the possibility of a crash,” said then PSG president Robin Leproux in March.

“If the TV revenue is cut in half, some clubs will go under. That would be disastrous for French soccer, but also for Canal Plus who could find themselves without any games to broadcast.”

LFP president Frédéric Thiriez searched hard for a solution. Two TV networks, TPS and Orange, had already tried to compete with Canal Plus and failed. Nobody else wanted to get stung. Thiriez therefore decided he had to create the competition himself: the LFP set up their own TV channel, CFoot, which would provide a second platform for Ligue 1 matches. Many were dubious as to whether this unprecedented step made any sense.

Ligue 1 was ultimately saved from its doomsday scenario, but not by Thiriez and not by Canal Plus. While the world of soccer fretted, crucial talks were taking place at the very highest level.

The French magazine So Foot claims that on November 23rd last year, Sarkozy invited the Crown Prince of Qatar, Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani, and Uefa president Michel Platini to the Elysée Palace for lunch. It explains Sébastien Bazin, the European representative of PSG’s American owners Colony Capital was also present. The aim of the talks, it seems, was to convince Qatar to invest in French soccer, and more specifically to purchase PSG.

The oil-rich Middle Eastern state had already shown an interest in 2006 when PSG’s former owners, Canal Plus, decided to wash their hands of an underachieving club that haemorrhaged money and was renowned for its hooligan element.

The takeover fell through because Canal Plus and the City of Paris, who own the Parc des Princes, were uncomfortable receiving funds from a nation they felt had questionable human rights laws.

However, with Colony Capital continuing to lose around €20m a year on PSG, the need to sell became more urgent. Bazin tried to rekindle Qatari interest in June 2010, but it was only after Sarkozy’s intervention five months later that a deal became possible. France’s president allegedly pulled out all the stops, making the most of his and France’s privileged relationship with Qatar.

“He was very interested in the dossier,” Elysée spokesman Franck Louvrier commented. “He was keen because these people wanted to invest in France, but also because he’s a (PSG) supporter.”

France has developed close ties with the Arab state that boasts the highest GDP per capita in the world. According to Libération, some of France’s biggest companies – Suez, Vinci, Airbus and Areva – are part-owned by sovereign funds from Qatar.

The government also encourages Qataris to invest in the French property market by exempting them from paying capital gains tax. In March, there was further evidence of the rapprochement when Qatar sided with France by voting for the Libyan air strikes resolution.

Sarkozy appears to have established an excellent relationship with the influential Sheikh Tamim. Indeed, the fourth son of the Emir of Qatar, who is heir to the throne, received the prestigious Legion of Honour award from France’s supremo shortly before the infamous November meeting.

Sheikh Tamim must have been intrigued by Platini’s presence that day. So Foot suggest the former France captain was dead set against Qatar’s 2022 World Cup bid before being urged to change his mind at the meeting with Sarkozy. “He told me the Qataris were good people,” Platini is quoted as saying. Ten days later, the head of Uefa voted for Qatar.

It is nevertheless difficult to imagine Platini playing an active part in Qatar’s purchase of PSG given his well-known desire to establish “Financial Fair Play” in Europe. Yet by voting for the Arab state, some are suggesting he may have done just that.

The takeover was completed in June when Qatar Sports Investment (QSI) – a branch of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund headed by Sheikh Tamim – secured a 70 per cent holding of PSG. As Moatti puts it, Qatar simply “did France a small favour”. The L’Equipe journalist adds: “They were looking to buy a club in Europe. They wanted Manchester United but it wasn’t possible, so they went for the far cheaper option: PSG.”

Sheikh Tamim installed Nasser Al-Khelaifi as PSG president. Al-Khelaifi is also the director of the Doha-based Al Jazeera Sport television network, and it quickly became clear buying PSG was only the tip of the iceberg as far as the Qataris were concerned. In the summer, Al Jazeera Sport bought the international TV rights for Ligue 1 for six years at a cost of €192m. Spotting an opportunity, the LFP persuaded Al Jazeera to enter the race for domestic rights as well.

Al Jazeera’s late arrival has been a godsend for French soccer. The LFP sold the first instalment of the domestic rights for €510 million, with Canal Plus and Al Jazeera Sport purchasing two games each. Once the remaining matches are sold, along with mobile phone rights, the final figure will come close to matching today’s deal. At a time when clubs everywhere are tightening their belts, Ligue 1 is suddenly in a strong financial position.

PSG are, of course, leading the way. QSI have already secured the capture of Leonardo as sporting director and invested €85m in new players. They flexed their muscles by signing one of Serie A’s most mercurial talents, Argentinian Javier Pastore, for a French record €42m from Palermo – and David Beckham is next on the list.

The former England captain may be 36 but Al-Khelaifi knows his arrival would drum up considerable global interest. “Beckham transcends Ligue 1,” he says. “He’s an ambassador, a brand, an example to others.”

The bar has been set high by Al-Khelaifi, who wants PSG to win the title this term and compete for the Champions League within three years. But he also needs the league to remain competitive for Al Jazeera to have an attractive product.

All 20 clubs will benefit from the TV revenues from 2012. In the meantime, PSG will prioritise internal transfers to keep the money in Ligue 1. France internationals Kevin Gameiro and Blaise Matuidi have already been bought from Lorient and Saint-Etienne respectively, while rumours of a €50m raid for Lille’s Eden Hazard continue to grow.

Qatar’s French revolution is in full flow, yet this is only the start. Where they will stop is unclear, but nobody should underestimate Al Jazeera’s potential. Bankrolled by the Qatari royal family, they already boast five international networks: AJ Arabic, AJ English, AJ Sport, AJ Documentary and AJ Balkans. In 2012, they will launch AJ Sport France.

In terms of audiences, Al Jazeera is the world’s fastest growing broadcaster, reaching out to tens of millions. For last year’s World Cup final, AJ Sport attracted 162 million viewers. Reports in France suggest Al Jazeera are preparing to outbid Canal Plus for the Champions League rights, while UK broadcaster BSkyB may well have to compete with them for the Premier League rights next year.

Whether David Cameron is quite as welcoming as Sarkozy was remains to be seen, but few in France are complaining about this particular presidential intervention.

The Main Protagonists . . .

Nicolas Sarkozy : French president since 2007, the 56-year-old is a staunch PSG supporter and has reportedly established strong links with the Qatari royal family.

Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani (Sheikh Tamim ): The fourth son of the Emir of Qatar and heir apparent to the throne, this former Harrow school pupil is chairman of the Qatar Investment Authority, the state’s sovereign wealth fund that bought PSG in June.

Sébastien Bazin : The European representative of American investment firm Colony Capital, which part-owned PSG from 2006 to 2011. Bazin counts Nicolas Sarkozy and Arsène Wenger among his close friends.

Nasser Al-Khelaifi : Appointed PSG president after the Qatari takeover, this close friend of Sheikh Tamim is also the director of Al Jazeera Sport.

Michel Platini : The Uefa president and former France captain allegedly attended a crucial meeting at the Elysée Palace shortly before voting for Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup.

Irish Times

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/...4307822782.html