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Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain confirmed on Friday they are in the race to buy the Stade de France, home of next year’s Summer Olympics.
The French government has launched a tender to find a buyer for the 81,500-seat stadium, France’s largest, whose current lease expires on July 1, 2025, for about 600 million euros ($635 million).
PSG’s announcement follows an unsuccessful attempt by the club’s Qatari owners to buy the Parc des Princes, which has been their home ground for nearly 50 years, from the Paris city council for expansion.
“We are candidates for the Stade de France,” said a PSG source, confirming a report by French sports daily L’Equipe and adding that PSG had not yet made an offer.
The Stade de France, built for the 1998 World Cup final, is estimated by the French government at 647 million euros in 2021.
The current lease has been held since 1995 by a consortium of French business groups Vinci and Bouygues.
Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said selling the national stadium was an option while awarding a new operating lease.
The deadline for tenders is April 27, with bids to be reviewed next year for the handover of the stadium in 2025.
PSG currently play at the 48,500-seat Parc des Princes, which has been their home ground since 1974.
The club signed a 30-year lease on Parc in 2014 but recently said it would try to find a new home if it failed to buy the stadium from Paris city council.
The current Ligue 1 leaders want a major upgrade to the venue, but only if they take full ownership.
PSG chairman Nasser Khelaifi revealed last November that the club had made an offer to buy the Parc des Princes, but it was rejected for being below the city council’s asking price.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo told Le Parisien newspaper that the stadium “is not for sale”, but said she could work with PSG on a potential renovation if the Parc des Princes remains in council ownership.
Paris Saint-Germain wants to increase the capacity of the Parc des Princes to 58,000, with renovations estimated at around 500 million euros.
This is still PSG’s first choice, and the acquisition of the Stade de France is the second choice. A third possibility is to build a new stadium near the small town of Poissy, on the western outskirts of Paris.
If PSG wins the bid to buy the Stade de France, it will have to share the complex with other players, including hosting matches organized by the French football and rugby federation.
(AFP)
