It is a story where football, diplomacy and affairs mingle in a frame with the tunes of a black novel of the Fifth Republic. Nearly fifteen years after the famous PSG acquisition by Qatar in 2011, French investigators are still trying to unravel the role that Nicolas Sarkozy, a fervent supporter of the Parisian club, would have played, in a series of politico-financial arrangements that far exceed the simple sports framework. According to the last revelations of Mediapartthe former President of the Republic would have been a central player in the negotiations which led not only to the allocation of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, but also to the sale of Paris Saint-Germain to Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), a montage that would have benefited several of his relatives, from the financier Sébastien Bazin to his own son Pierre Sarkozy. These suspicions are surfaced in an explosive context: last week, Nicolas Sarkozy was sentenced to five years in prison in the Libyan funding case, a historic verdict which further weakens his defense in the investigations linked to Qatar.
The starting point of this new judicial episode dates back to a lunch that remained famous in the corridors of power. On November 23, 2010 at the Élysée, Nicolas Sarkozy received at his table the Crown Prince of Qatar, Tamim Al-Thani, as well as Michel Platini, then president of UEFA, and Claude Guéant, his secretary general. According to Mediapartthis meeting was decisive since a few days later, Platini changed his vote to support Qatar's candidacy for the 2022 World Cup, when it seemed to the point of the American file. The French magistrates believe today that this lunch was able to seal an unofficial agreement: in exchange for diplomatic support from France, Doha would undertake to invest massively in French companies and projects, including the acquisition of PSG, a club dear to Sarkozy. The investigation suggests that the ex-head of the State would itself have facilitated discussions between the Colony Capital fund, then owner of the club, and the Qatari emissaries, in order to save the bankruptcy club while offering an advantageous exit door to its economic allies.
Sarkozy very active in the football sphere
This is where economic and personal ramifications are more clearly taking shape. Mediapart reveals that the boss of Colony Capital, Sébastien Bazin, would have negotiated the sale of PSG with the active support of Nicolas Sarkozy and his entourage. The sale price, initially valued at around 30 million euros, would have been doubled at 64 million, after exchanges involving Sarkozy father and son. SMS paid to the file report direct support from the president to “Convince the Qataris” to buy the club “At a fairer price”according to Mediapart. After the transaction, Bazin, who became president of the Accor group, would have rewarded his allies: Nicolas Sarkozy was recruited as administrator and group advisor for paid missions up to more than 80,000 euros per year, while Pierre Sarkozy, alias DJ Mosey, benefited from lucrative contracts to animate evenings and produce music for Sofitel hotels. At the same time, Arnaud Lagardère, another close to the president, would have received Qataris financial support in his media group, while a contract of 2 million euros signed between a French communication agency and a company linked to the son -in -law of the Qatari Prime Minister now intrigues justice.
Today, these parallel files feed an instruction for corruption, influence traffic and illegal campaign funding, following a complaint filed in 2023 by the Anticor association. The judges seek to determine if Nicolas Sarkozy personally took advantage of these operations and if he used his presidential status to promote private partners in exchange for political or financial support. The former president denies any embezzlement, saying that he has always acted in “The interest of France and French football”. If Paris Saint-Germain remains at the center of suspicions, no investigation is targeting the club or its current leaders directly. The magistrates focus exclusively on the conditions of redemption and the political actors of the time. Fourteen years after this famous Lunch of the Élysée, PSG, crowned with titles and planetary stars, continues its sports route, while in the shadows, affairs of influence and notes of Mediapart Recall that in Paris, football has never been a game.
