The two candidates for the Stade de France concession were interviewed by the State

The two candidates for the Stade de France concession were interviewed on Thursday February 8 by the State, owner of the venue, while the only candidate for the takeover made a free appeal to the administration after being rejected , AFP learned from sources close to the negotiations.

There are therefore currently only two offers in the running, and only for one concession: the Vinci/Bouygues consortium, which currently holds the concession since 1995, as well as the events group GL Events associated with "Paris Entertainment Company", the former SAE POPB operating company, majority owned by the city of Paris.

They were interviewed Thursday by the State on the basis of the offer that they each officially submitted on January 3. At the beginning of January, the owner of PSG, Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), who had said he was interested in the takeover, finally threw in the towel.

The takeover offer “Stade de France our common good” with in particular the Los Angeles-based company ASM Global and the French manufacturer NGE, pleading to strongly associate the football and rugby federations, was summoned to the hearing before be rejected by Bercy services for “irregular” offer. She filed a voluntary appeal with the administration, a source close to the negotiations told AFP.

The procedure launched in March 2023 will still be long. A final offer must be submitted in September 2024 and the award decision will be made at the end of 2024, at the latest in 2025.

The winning candidate will have to carry out a major work program because the venue is only being “refurbished” in preparation for the 2024 Olympics.