Pierre Rabadan, deputy mayor of Paris in charge of sport, spoke to RMC Sport. He spoke about the Parc des Princes and the possibilities, but above all recalled that discussions with the Paris club had been at a standstill for two years. He continues to insist that the club has other options than buying the stadium.
Rabadan “The problem is that there have been no discussions with PSG for over two years”.
“The problem is that there have been no discussions with PSG for over two years. We reiterated our willingness to talk. Today, it’s not about Anne Hidalgo or not Anne Hidalgo. The Paris City Council has decided whether or not to sell the Parc des Princes. It has largely spoken out against the sale of the Parc, but there are other development models at the Parc des Princes for the club.
Rabadan: “There is a possibility of an expansion project. We know it”.
Everyone, the city, its representatives, the fans, the Parisians, everyone wants PSG to stay at the Parc. There is a possibility of an expansion project. We know that. There are other ways of operating other than purely selling, which we could work on with the club. But we still need to resume a dialogue, which hasn’t happened yet despite our appeals over many months.
It’s a real cacophony. Rabadan insists that PSG’s stadium is not for sale, but wants the club to stay at the Parc des Princes. For their part, the Parisian directors are only considering acquiring the stadium. It’s easy to understand Rabadan’s strategy, which is to leave the impression that the municipality is open and that it’s PSG that’s closing the dialogue.
However, Nasser Al-Khelaïfi wants to acquire the stadium, thus complicating the situation. Given that the two camps are not moving in the same direction, indirect messages continue to flow through the press.
For Rabadan, it’s easy to claim that there are other alternatives to the sale, which is to his advantage, but at no point does he concretely address the reality of the situation. What’s more, given that the club wants to buy and that the city council has refused, how can we believe that a solution can be found in this context?