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PSG stars to meet Qatari fans at Khalifa Stadium on Jan 18

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As part of the Qatar Winter Tour 2023, Paris Saint-Germain is opening its first team training to the public at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha. Fans will have the unique opportunity to watch the Paris Saint-Germain stars in action on Wednesday, January 18 from 6:30 to 7:30 pm.

More than 15,000 tickets are on sale today on the Q Ticket platform to attend this exclusive event. In addition, 5,000 Academy members, children and parents, and 300 partners are invited.

The doors are scheduled to open at 4pm for the general public and at 5pm for VIPs and media. The price is 20 riyals (about 5 euros) per seat.

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qatar tour 2023 psg

Paris Saint-Germain's Training Session for Qatar Tour 2023 tickets

Paris Saint-Germain's Training Session for Qatar Tour 2023 tickets

Events Details

  • General Admission - 20 QR

NOTE: Ticket link has been disabled. We will update as soon as it is back up.

As part of the Qatar Winter Tour 2023, Paris Saint-Germain is opening its first team training to the public at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha. Fans will be able to watch the Paris Saint-Germain stars in action!

More than 15,000 tickets are on sale today, 15 January 2023. In addition, 5,000 Academy members, children and parents, and 300 partners are invited.

  • Price: Starts from QR 20
  • Timings: Wednesday, January 18, from 6:30 to 7:30 pm | Doors open at 4:00 pm
  • Location: Khalifa Stadium

Source and cover image credit: Q-Tickets

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Paris Saint-Germain, Qatar and the three transfers under the microscope

Paris Saint-Germain, Qatar and the three transfers under the microscope

Paris Saint-Germain oversaw a full squad overhaul in the summer. They bid farewell to Neymar and Lionel Messi , and recruited 12 new players.

Their revamp committed the club to spending more than €300million (£259.7m; $316.7m) and left the head coach Luis Enrique with an exciting, new-look squad with whom to work. They are now beginning to gel, and recent performances suggest a different era lies ahead in Paris.

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But some of their outgoings caught the eye. Three of PSG ’s unwanted players — two were members of the ‘loft’, the club’s group of unwanted players which briefly included Kylian Mbappe in their number — signed for Qatari clubs. Defender Abdou Diallo moved to Al Arabi in August. Midfielder Marco Verratti joined him in early September. A few days later, Julian Draxler signed for Al Ahli, also of the Qatar Stars League.

They did not go cheaply. According to club sources who, like all those consulted for this piece, wished to remain anonymous to protect their relationships, these players were sold collectively for more than €60million (£51.9m; $63.4m). Crucially, PSG were also able to shift large salaries off the wage bill.

The French club are majority owned by Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), a Qatari investment fund.

So is there a problem with the Qatar-backed French champions selling into the Qatari league? Is it any different from other multi-club models? And what are the rules relating to such transactions?

What are the concerns and who has expressed them?

They centre on whether these deals have been sanctioned to assist PSG’s financial fair play position — whether through inflated fees or just by removing onerous salaries from the wage bill.

Eyebrows have been raised across Europe. The president of La Liga , Javier Tebas, went public with his scepticism.

“They lose a lot of money but manage to sell Verratti to a Qatari club as if by chance… and not at a price that a club in this league can generate,” he told Spanish radio station, Movistar. Previously, he had tweeted: “ PSG is selling Verratti for €40million to Qatar. Do they take us for idiots?”

PSG sources say Verratti’s deal was worth up to €45million and Diallo’s €15million and insist the fees represented market value. They suggest the fee generated for Draxler, who spent last season on loan at Benfica in Portugal, was closer to half of the €20million initially reported.

qatar tour 2023 psg

But is this any different from deals within multi-club models?

Multi-club ownership within football has grown significantly in recent seasons. City Football Group , which counts Manchester City as its flagship club, are a leading example. There are 13 football clubs worldwide under its umbrella.

Others are now following in their footsteps. Black Knight Football & Entertainment owns Bournemouth and Lorient, and BlueCo is the majority shareholder of Chelsea and Strasbourg. John Textor’s Eagle Football has stakes in four clubs — Lyon, Crystal Palace , Botafago in Brazil and Belgium’s RWD Molenbeek.

There have been transfers across these clubs. Lorient sold promising winger Dango Ouattara to Bournemouth for around £20million in January while Lyon acquired Ghanaian winger Ernest Nuamah on loan from Molenbeek this summer. The Belgian club had signed Nuamah for a reported €25million (£21.6m; $26.4m), a Belgian transfer record, before loaning him to Lyon with an obligation to buy. Lyon had been sanctioned by the French football’s financial watchdog, the DNCG, which limited the club’s ability to make new signings.

The highest-profile example of a transfer similar to those agreed by PSG concerned the sale of Allan Saint-Maximin by Newcastle United , who are majority owned by the Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia ’s sovereign wealth fund. Saint-Maximin joined Saudi Pro League club Al Ahli for around $30million (£25m) . Al Ahli are also majority-owned by PIF.

QSI does not own stakes in Qatari clubs Al Arabi or Al Ahli, but they are supported by the state. Their chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi, who is also the president of PSG, sits on the board of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar. QIA say that QSI is not a subsidiary. PSG do have several sponsors from Qatar and, when Marseille visited PSG last month, the Emir of Qatar was present.

Football club investment in Qatar is opaque but it is thought, ultimately, the teams are backed by the state. Al Arabi, Al Ahli and the Qatar Stars League did not respond when asked for comment by The Athletic .

qatar tour 2023 psg

What are UEFA ’s rules on such issues?

PSG are not under investigation by UEFA over these transfers. In terms of financial fair play regulations, UEFA are now examining all clubs’ accounts with the deadline for the submission of financial information having passed on Sunday.

UEFA added that, under article G.3.7 of the UEFA club licensing and financial sustainability regulations, clubs cannot register “a profit on a transfer between clubs that are related to each other”.

The key question is whether PSG and these Qatari clubs constitute a ‘related party’. UEFA defines a related party broadly under article 4 as “a person or entity or government that is related to the entity that is preparing its financial statements”. The regulations state that “attention is directed to the substance of the relationship and not the merely legal form”. Within that falls membership of the same group, joint ventures of the same third party, and/or a party with significant influence over the other club.

“It would hinge on whether UEFA can prove they are a ‘related party’ — the extent that PSG is controlled by QSI (and) that all football clubs in Qatar are basically owned by the government,” says Carlos Hurtado, a sports lawyer at Baker McKenzie. “UEFA’s definition is pretty broad. Second, if proven, is how this impacts the transfers. The rules under G. 3.7 are complex. But UEFA is able to ‘cancel’ the profit of the transfer.”

Why is the Qatar Stars League signing players?

This summer’s transfer window has been dominated by Saudi Arabia’s lavish investment in football, but clubs in the Qatar Stars League have also spent heavily on new players. More than 20 have moved to the league from Europe or South America this summer — a sizeable number that would have captured more attention had Saudi Arabia not drawn the spotlight.

In part, this may be an attempt to try not to be left behind amid Saudi’s investment gear change. But it is also about raising their league’s standard.

“Pull back the curtain and the premise of bringing players in from abroad is exactly the same (as in Saudi Arabia),” says Ben Peppi, a sports commercial expert with JMW Solicitors. “They both want to have a competitive domestic league where there is a local and international interest. In Qatar, that’s been a 10-year-plus project, ever since the bid to host the World Cup. This is the next iteration of that.

“Regardless of everything else, you need to have a legacy project after hosting a World Cup.”

go-deeper

Why the World Cup 2022 in Qatar is controversial

The league recently increased the number of foreign players allowed in each club’s squad to seven, including two under-21s. In March 2022, the league appointed Antero Henrique as sporting director, a similar role to that held by Michael Emenalo in the Saudi Pro League, with the aim of “improving the competitive level of the league”.

Henrique was formerly the sporting director at PSG between 2017 and 2019 and was an advisor last season. He no longer has a formal role at PSG.

qatar tour 2023 psg

Qatari financial outlays have not been on the same level as the Saudi investment, which has seen stars such as Neymar, Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante join clubs in the Saudi Pro League. Verratti’s signing is by far and away the most expensive signing in Qatar this summer.

But there have been other eye-catching additions, including promising winger Gonzalo Plata ’s move from Valladolid to Al Sadd for a reported €12million, New York City’s leading goalscorer Gabriel Pereira joining Al Rayyan and Philippe Coutinho’s loan move to Al Duhail from Aston Villa .

In addition to older players such as Verratti and former Leeds United striker Rodrigo , young players have also moved to the league, with Plata (22) and Pereira (22) joined by highly rated Uruguayan Fabricio Diaz (20) from Liverpool Montevideo, Giovani (19) from Palmeiras and Ibra Bamba (21) from Guimaraes in Portugal.

“They are going about it a slightly different way,” adds Peppi. “They have not gone for the top-down approach (of big names) like Saudi Arabia. They want to reach a very high-quality product with younger players coming through. That makes it a lot more challenging.”

PSG appear to be the largest individual benefactor of Qatari clubs’ investments this summer. The summer departures are not the first former PSG players to move to Qatar. Former midfielder Rafinha plays for Al Arabi, while Javier Pastore joined Qatar SC in January. Additionally, former coach Christophe Galtier, who was dismissed in June with a year left on his contract, has been appointed head coach of Al Duhail.

What of the PSG academy players heading to Qatar?

It is not just the three senior players who have moved to Qatar. Young PSG players have moved there, too.

In July, former under-19 captain Younes El Hannach, 19, signed for Al Shamal. Winger Ilyes Housni, 18, signed for Al Sadd on a season-long loan. They follow in the footsteps of Sekou Yansane and Kais Najeh, who swapped PSG for Qatar last year.

Housni’s case is interesting as he is seen as a promising talent and travelled with Luis Enrique’s first-team squad on their tour of Japan and South Korea in the summer. He also made two first-team appearances last season.

But his arrival does fit the pattern of younger talent being sought by Qatari clubs.

PSG do not have a reserve team straddling the gap between the youth and senior sections, so loans are key. Similar youngsters — such as Ismael Gharbi and Noha Lemina, who also went on tour — are now on loan at Lausanne and Sampdoria. Housni’s move does appear to be a new departure in terms of player development, with a young talent offered an opportunity to develop in Qatar rather than at a rival European club.

qatar tour 2023 psg

What is the view at PSG?

PSG sources believe the the deals for Draxler, Verratti and Diallo were all fair value, and comparable with the market rate.

In the case of Verratti, one source with knowledge of PSG’s recruitment said an offer was actually made of a higher value from a club in Saudi Arabia, but the deal fell through. Barcelona and Bayern Munich were mooted as potential destinations. “But I wanted to have a different experience,” the Italian told l’Equipe last week . “I didn’t want to go to another team in Europe where I could face PSG. I wanted them (PSG) to be my last team.

“I had this proposal in Doha. The standard is not the same, but I take other pleasures: helping the league grow, or my team-mates to improve.”

Draxler, according to a source close to the player, also had other offers from clubs in the Middle East but ultimately, after a private issue, decided on Qatar because he knows the city of Doha.

PSG are also confident in their financial fair play position, now known as FSR (financial sustainability rules). UEFA had put PSG under the spotlight following a previous breach of the rules, for which they were fined €65million), of which €55million is contingent on meeting targets as part of a settlement agreement .

PSG have been assisted by key departures, not least the sale of Neymar, who moved to Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia for a fee of £80million and took his large salary with him. Club sources also pointed out that the 2022-23 season brought a record amount of overall global revenue.

go-deeper

How Neymar's exit helped PSG keep Mbappe, spend €200m on transfers and manage FFP

(Top photos: Getty Images)

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Peter Rutzler

Peter Rutzler is a football writer covering Paris Saint-Germain and Fulham for The Athletic. Previously, he covered AFC Bournemouth. He joined The Athletic in August 2019. Follow Peter on Twitter @ peterrutzler

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International Edition

IMAGES

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  13. PSG stars to meet Qatari fans at Khalifa Stadium on Jan 18

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