Between gags and publicity stunts, the PSG stadium project arouses covetousness

On April 1st, the editorial staff received a lunar press release from the mayor of Viry-Châtillon (Essonne), Jean-Marie Vilain, who announced that he had "met with PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaïfi to finalize the installation of the Parisian club's future stadium" in the city.

Until now, this town had never been among the possible destinations for PSG, who now want to leave the Parc des Princes. An April Fool's joke intended as a free publicity stunt. But also a way to mock the more or less insistent appeals from towns in the region to the reigning French champion.

The day before, the office of Michel Leprêtre, president of Grand Orly, had sent a press release outlining talks with the club for a plot of land straddling Val-de-Marne and Essonne, with a visit to Qatar soon planned by the manager. Before backpedaling, Leprêtre asked not to use it.

One-upmanship

PSG sighs, referring to a bidding war. "We are moving forward calmly and will not let the actions of candidate cities determine our schedule," a club spokesperson told AFP.

Because fundamentally, the club, which has been under the Qatari flag since 2011, remains firm: it wants to leave the Parc des Princes. Nasser Al-Khelaïfi expressed his anger and frustration in February 2024, when the city of Paris refused to sell the stadium.

The long-term lease (which expires in 2044) granted to PSG no longer suits the club, which has "reached a ceiling for hospitality and ticket sales," its general manager Victoriano Melero explained to Le Figaro in March, insisting that Paris wants to "own" its stadium.

The club does not want to carry out work at its own expense on a property that does not belong to it, an option suggested by Paris City Hall.

Among the contenders are the high-profile ones like Aulnay-sous-Bois (Seine-Saint-Denis), which is not a preferred option for the club, according to a source close to the matter. The city has declared its candidacy as early as 2024, with a promotional video featuring the mayor and former player Olivier Dacourt.

For his part, the president of the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines urban area, Jean-Michel Fourgous, highlighted his leisure island to AFP, where "everything is green, from land to mobility to environmental data."

The municipality of Ris-Orangis has positioned itself since the beginning of 2024, proposing the town's former racecourse as a site, which was once considered to house the new stadium for the French rugby union team before the project was abandoned.

In total, more than ten cities in the Paris region contacted the club, which made an initial selection by launching studies on travel times from Paris, according to a source close to the matter.

"Ecological impact"

If the site does not meet the specifications, the option is rejected by the club, which assures that it will take its time before a public debate in the chosen municipality.

Among this list, the most serious candidates are actually the most discreet. Massy seems to be the most advanced, with discussions already underway for several weeks, according to the source, as do other sites that the source declined to specify.

But since this idea was revealed, opponents have come forward, such as the "Nous sommes Massy" collective, which fears "a major upheaval" and a "considerable ecological impact." A foretaste of the obstacles that are sure to multiply once the concrete project is announced.

And that explains why Mayor Nicolas Samsoen is on a ridge.

"PSG has contacted us and is showing interest in Massy," he declared in the municipal newspaper regarding this "opportunity." "At this stage, I am neither for nor against it, quite the opposite! It seems impossible to me to have an opinion today without having the results of the studies."

In the coming days, a selection of "one, two or three sites" will be officially announced by the club, which will take a new step in its divorce from the Paris city hall.