Almost ten years after the repurchase of Paris-Saint-Germain by the Qatar sports Investments (QSI) fund, will the Paris Football Club (PFC) open its capital to a minority shareholder in the Gulf? According to information from Parisian and World, Prince Nasser ben Hamed Al-Khalifa, one of the sons of the King of Bahrain, is among the potential candidates for an entry in the capital of the second professional club in the capital, seventeenth in the League 2 ranking at the end of the 2019-2020 (truncated) season.
Pierre Ferracci, owner and president of Paris FC since 2012, met the Bahraini prince in March in a secret place. Contacted by The world, Mr. Ferracci explains “Have been talking for a long time with a potential large-scale European investor”, but he refuses to comment on the possibility that the Bahrain archipelago enters the capital of the PFC. “In social as in football, I say nothing about negotiations, and even less about the interlocutors I have in front of me”, points out the leader of the Alpha advisory group, who works with social and economic committees (ex-EC) as well as with management.
Mr. Ferracci should already formalize, in the week of July 20, the identity of a new shareholder. One thing is certain, “The majority of the capital will remain in my hands”, specifies the majority shareholder of Paris FC, up to the point of about 95% – for an overall budget of around 14.5 million euros.
In January, in an interview with World, he said: “I consider that the club should have capitalist foundations of control on a regional, national and European basis. “ The prospect of a country outside Europe investing in the club “Do not invalidate” this statement, he continues today, provided that this new investor remains a minority.
According to our information, the American investment fund RedBird has already tried to take over the club. Before referring to Toulouse, relegated to Ligue 2. In addition, City Football Group, the Emirati fund owner of Manchester City and directed by a relative of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al-Nahyan from Abu Dhabi, would also, during the period of containment, attempted an approach. Contacted, RedBird and City Football Group have not yet followed up.
Diplomatic-sports partnership projects
What is the point of betting on a Ligue 2 club with one of the weakest crowds in the championship (just over 2,300 spectators on average last season, in a Charléty stadium which can hold eight times more), in a city where the Qatari version of PSG crushes everything?
In addition to the attraction of the capital, the Corsican leader highlights his training center in Orly (Val-de-Marne). ” Crisis [due au Covid-19] that football is going through will put forward the training challenges, because resources are likely to dry up everywhere: TV rights, transfers, sponsorship, ticketing. “
Without specifying whether he was at the initiative or at the reception, the manager ensures that he reflects “For about a year” to diplomatic-sports partnership projects with various countries: “Four in Europe, two outside Europe”. VShe partnerships could “To be part of a much broader framework than football, which could also be that of economic, cultural and scientific relations between two countries”, he specifies.
How did Pierre Ferracci get in touch with Prince Nasser ben Hamed Al-Khalifa? Close to Emmanuel Macron – his son Marc, special advisor to the Ministry of Labor, was the witness to the President of the Republic’s marriage, and vice versa – did the leader benefit from the diplomatic networks of the Head of State to closer to the royal family of Bahrain? Pierre Ferracci denies the “Fantasies” about a possible mediation of the Elysée.
The Elysée cabinet, through its sports advisor, Cyril Mourin, provides the World that“No intervention from the president [de la République] has only been brought to [sa] knowledge about this file, while[il] would have been intended to be associated with such a request. “
He also specifies that no convention for the development of sport has been signed recently between France and Bahrain, according to information from the Ministry of Sports and the French Embassy in Manama. The most recent agreement, initialed in 1980, concerned “Tourism cooperation”.
Prince suspected of torture
Today, three years after the breakdown of diplomatic and commercial relations with Qatar, Bahrain is trying to enter the long-distance race (s) in sports diplomacy. The monarchy has already acquired a football club in Spain, since December 2019: that of Cordoba, which only plays in the third national division. It also hosts a Formula 1 Grand Prix and also has an international level cycling team, Bahrain-McLaren.
As for Nasser ben Hamed Al-Khalifa, at 33, the Bahraini prince, who is also president of the National Olympic Committee of the monarchy, has already been talked about in the world of sport. In particular for having participated in the 2014 World Equestrian Games in Normandy, despite protests from non-governmental organizations. Several of them, including the International Federation of Human Rights, then demanded his arrest in France. They accused him of having ordered, even to have practiced himself, acts of torture on political dissidents during the revolt which shook his country in 2011, following the “Arab Spring”.
