Keyword: PSG

In a confidential letter seen by Mediapart and the British daily newspaper The Guardian, the president of leading French football club PSG, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, requested the payment of a 2-million-euro commission to the agent of Argentine midfielder Javier Pastore in relation to the latter's transfer. The request was apparently made on the instructions of the current Emir of Qatar. If carried out, such a payment appears to breach both French football transfer regulations and the law. A company run by Al-Khelaifi's brother also asked for 200,000 dollars in 'expenses' over the transfer. Yann Philippin reports.

Le Paris Saint-Germain team during training. © Reuters

Seven years after Mediapart's revelations about discriminatory ethnic quotas in French football, our 'Football Leaks 2' investigation revealed how French football's most prestigious club, PSG, kept files on the ethnic origins of potential youth recruits, writes Mediapart publishing editor Edwy Plenel. What, he asks, does this persistent prejudice say about France?

The allegations, broken by Mediapart, are that PSG had asked recruiters to record the origin of players in four categories.

Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, better known as Neymar Junior. © Reuters

Documents from Football Leaks lift the lid on the real cost and the dealings behind the record-breaking transfer in the summer of 2017 of Brazilian football star Neymar from FC Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). Revealed here by Mediapart, they tell of massive commission payments, up-to-the-wire negotiations that almost collapsed amid a tetchy moment of bluff, tax dilemmas and the club’s suspicions that some of those accompanying the player to Paris were in undeclared employment. Meanwhile, despite the capture of one of the world’s most celebrated players, the transfer appears to represent a financial abyss for PSG.

French football club Paris Saint-Germain said on Thursday it was investigating Mediapart's revelations that its youth talent scouts were required to report on players' ethnic origins in a scheme of racial discrimination against those who were black and of Arab family origin.

Former PSG sporting director Olivier Létang (right) with the club’s president Nasser Al-Khelaïfi. © Reuters

Talent scouts for French club PSG were required to detail the ethnic origins of potential youth recruits as an essential criterium in the club’s selection of players in a blatant discrimination policy that lasted over several years until this spring, Mediapart can reveal. As a result, a youngster now considered to be one of France’s most promising players was disregarded by PSG on the grounds of his black skin.   

Frace's PLP says it 'does not understand' the decision by La Liga to hold up Barcelona star's record transfer to Paris Saint-Germain.

'I came like a king, left like a legend' Tweeted the never modest 34-year-old footballer, who was at the end of his contract after four years at the club.

The Bastia striker was given a month in jail and fined for headbutting PSG player Thiago Motta in the players' tunnel after a match this summer.

The Qatari buy-up of Paris football club PSG saw the arrival of big bucks and big stars, but there's an innate French distaste for bling, argues The Economist.