The conflict between Paris Saint-Germain and the Paris town hall over the sale of the Parc des Princes took place in the stands of the capital’s emblematic stadium. The Parisian ultras insulted the city’s mayor, Anne Hidalgo, and unfurled several banners against her during the PSG match against Lille on Saturday February 10 evening.
“Without PSG, the Park no longer has princes”, “Hidalgo kills Paris and its magic” or “Recovered by the politicians, a stadium for the people”, was written on banners taken out by the Auteuil bend in Princes Park.
The Parisian ultras also repeatedly sang “Hidalgo resignation” and insulted her, forcing the stadium announcer to speak after having taken it the first time before the match because of homophobic chants.
Expansion project to 60,000 places
On Thursday, PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi said he wanted to leave the stadium in the face of Paris town hall’s refusal to sell him the venue. On the sidelines of the UEFA congress, the Qatari leader told journalists: “It’s too easy to say now that the stadium is no longer for sale. We know what we want, we wasted years trying to buy the Park. It’s over now, we want to move out of the Park.”
The Parisian club, engaged until the end of 2043 in a thirty-year long lease with the Town Hall, owner, considers the acquisition of the stadium essential to carry out its expansion project to 60,000 seats, compared to around 48,000 currently. For months, the situation has continued to become tense in the face of the persistent blockage of the file.