The postponement of the classic to this Monday evening placed the president of Paris Saint-Germain, Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, faced with an impossible arbitration. On the one hand, the most important match of the year in France, a high risk trip to the Vélodrome. On the other hand, the Golden Ball ceremony in Paris, a planetary event where his club and his star player, Ousmane Dembélé, play big. Assisting the two is impossible. In this uncomfortable situation, the Qatari leader had to make a choice. And according to the latest information, his decision is made.
The prestige of the golden ball before the fervor of the velodrome
According to RMC Sport, Nasser Al-Khelaïfi decided: he will attend the Golden Ball ceremony and will therefore not be present in Marseille for the classic. A decision which, on the institutional level, may seem logical. For PSG, whose big favorite is in the running for the Supreme Trophy, an absence of its president at this world event would be perceived as an admission of weakness or a lack of support. The presence of the leader at the Théâtre du Châtelet is an act of lobbying and an affirmation of the international status of the club.
It must be recognized that Nasser Al-Khelaïfi was in a dead end. Whatever its decision, criticism was inevitable. If he had chosen to go to Marseille, he would have reproached him for snubbing the sacred potential of his player and missing an opportunity to make the club shine on the world scene. By choosing Paris, he exposes the accusation to abandon his team during the most important appointment of the Ligue 1. season. A choice made, we can imagine, reluctantly, but which reveals priorities.
Absence of al-Khelaïfi at the Vélodrome: the classic, a secondary match for PSG?
The choice of Nasser al-Khelaifi will be talked about
This decision inevitably questions the place that the classic still occupies in the minds of Parisian leaders. She did not echo, in a way, to the words made by Kylian Mbappé a few years ago, who considered that the rivalry had lost its intensity? The sporting gap between the two clubs may have reduced, the choice to favor a ceremony, however prestigious it may be, to the detriment of a trip to the velodrome, could be interpreted as a sign of the little consideration that PSG now gives to this poster, whatever the official discourse says.
In the end, the choice of Nasser Al-Khelaïfi is a strong symbol of the new hierarchies of modern football. The global image, international prestige and individual awards now seem to be prevailing about national historical rivalry. A logical decision for a planetary strategy club, but which will not fail to feed the debates and add a new layer of tension to a classic that did not need it.
