Since 2011, Qatar Sports Investments has taken control of Paris Saint-Germain. After dreaming bigger and recruiting the biggest stars, the Ile-de-France team has finally achieved its goal: winning the Champions League. The Parisians have even succeeded twice since they won the last two editions of the most beautiful European competition. A sporting and financial success, but which also allows us to highlight in the eyes of the whole world the colossal work carried out by QSI for fifteen years now. At the same time, the majority shareholder of PSG has also expanded its empire by investing in other clubs. Since 2022, QSI has established a partnership with Sporting Clube de Braga, of which it owns 30% of the capital.
Eupen has joined the QSI galaxy
On December 9, KAS Eupen joined the Qatar Sports Investments family. In search of a satellite club for several years, Paris and its main shareholder had notably tested the waters with Malaga. But this project was not completed. Many even thought it would stay on the cards. Luis Campos’ statements on the subject on November 24 hardly encouraged optimism. “We are currently studying solutions. It’s not easy. We can’t rush.” A few days later, QSI, which had been moving in the shadows, made its merger with the Belgian team official, to everyone’s surprise, through a long press release.
“Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), a leading strategic investment group in sports, culture, entertainment and lifestyle, is pleased to announce the upcoming acquisition of KAS Eupen, a historic Belgian football club currently playing in the Challenger Pro League. The arrival of KAS Eupen within the QSI Group further strengthens its position as a global player in the field of football and business (…) Under the terms of the memorandum of understanding, QSI will ultimately take full operational control of the club, including all associated sporting, commercial and operational assets, within a very short period of time. In addition to this strategic investment, QSI will support the club’s transformation with its world-class expertise, experience and know-how, while connecting it to QSI’s growing, fully integrated and high-performing multi-club, multi-sport and multi-activity model.”
A union that benefits everyone
Nasser Al-Khelaïfi was delighted with this new collaboration. “Qatar Sports Investments is proud to become the guardian of KAS Eupen and to contribute to the development of football in Belgium. With QSI’s global expertise and passion for football, our aim is to build a modern and competitive football and business structure, which will make KAS Eupen fans proud and build on the club’s formidable heritage to date. We warmly welcome a fantastic club and community into our family.” Under the Qatari flag since 2012, Eupen, which was in the hands of the Aspire Zone Foundation, has therefore joined the fold of QSI. This Thursday, September 17, QSI formalized the total acquisition of KAS Eupen. A new stage in this union set to last. However, in Belgium as in France, many wondered about this project and the investment of the Qatari company.
Pasquale Sensibile, who represents QSI and who is the sporting director of Eupen, provided some initial answers on December 15. “QSI has big ambitions and wants to perfect the construction of an ecosystem. Naturally, we have a management which will decide on the strategy. For us, it was the right timing to return to Belgium, through a historic club like Eupen. We are going to do the best we can for the future of the club (…) D1 is the final destination. The 2nd division does not help, but we have options, we will evaluate them with the management, with Mr. Luis Campos. He’s the boss. Every day I have things to share with him. To improve the future of KAS Eupen and the future of young players, why not bring them in. The objective is at least to come back and settle in D1. Then, we will plan the next steps. I think that Eupen already has its history, we must respect it and promote it. We have to be professional, every day. The employees, us, the collaborators, I must be an example. Examples are more powerful than a thousand words.”
A project in place for more than 9 months
After words, it’s time for actions. A little over nine months after Qatar Sports Investments took over, where is Eupen today? Head of the football section and journalist for The Last HourChristophe Franken gives us an update on the start of the Belgian season. “This season, Eupen didn’t start too badly in the Belgian second division. It’s a special championship where everyone can beat everyone. We see that it is a team which can have the ambition of playing for the climb. There is no ultra favorite team, it’s open.” This is good, since this is the club’s stated objective, as Pasquale Sensibile admitted just before the start of the season.
“QSI’s goal is to bring KAS Eupen back to the Jupiler Pro League. Last season we missed the play-offs. This season we want to field a team capable of playing a role in the fight for the title. However, we know that it will not be easy, especially since this time there will only be one club going directly up and competitors like Patro Eisden, Beerschot, RFC Liège, but also RFC Seraing, have solid teams. In this championship, it is not necessarily the best team that wins, but rather the one that is the most consistent. It is with this in mind that we have put together a good quality team, with whom we have been working hard for six weeks to achieve our objective. But we know that three or four other clubs have similar ambitions and that the fight will be tough. We want to stay in the race until the end to reach the Jupiler Pro League. »
Objective D1
After five days in D2, KAS Eupen is in the first car. Indeed, the Belgian team, which wants to include several U23s this season, is in 4th place with 9 points on the clock, as many as Virton (3rd). The Belgian team is only 3 lengths behind Beerschot (1st) and FCV Dender EH (2nd), who have 12 points. Eupen won 3 and lost 1 match (8 goals scored, 4 conceded) under the orders of Felice Mazzu, appointed coach this summer by Pasquale Sensibile. His experienced profile in Belgium fits with the QSI project, namely to find the elite as quickly as possible as explained The Future. “A man with considerable experience, named coach of the year several times, having worked for Charleroi, Union Saint-Gilloise, Anderlecht and, more recently, Louvain.”
Walfoot also mentioned this strong choice. “The signing of a coach who has worked for Charleroi, Genk, Sint-Truiden, Anderlecht and especially Union Saint-Gilloise is a strong signal from the German-speaking club which is struggling to leave the quagmire of the elite anteroom since its relegation in 2024. Last season, they failed to qualify for the Play-offs after failing to finish in 7th place during the regular phase.” He must help Eupen to take a step forward and evolve in the first division so that the QSI project can continue to develop in the right direction, particularly with PSG. On this point, the journalist from DH also made an inventory of the situation.
Luis Campos and PSG are very present
“Regarding PSG, we don’t yet see much contribution to the team. They didn’t turn everything upside down. There were transfers, but not directly linked to PSG. There were a few players who had a link with PSG who arrived, but not many. There were no massive loans from Paris youth teams to Eupen. On the other hand, the sports director of PSG, Luis Campos, came regularly. He must have come 2 or 3 times already. He goes into the locker rooms, the offices and watches the matches. We clearly see that there is interest in the club. They do not want to leave Eupen abandoned. For now, things are falling into place. They have the ambition to make a training center much more efficient than the current one. We see that the idea is to really do something with it.” QSI and PSG, which hosted and lent its facilities to the KAS Eupen team at the PSG Campus between January 2 and 10, are therefore quietly putting things in place.
In Belgium, however, we are not expecting a major revolution, as Christophe Franken explains to us, even if many Belgian media expected to see more young people from PSG in Eupen. “It’s like Lommel, which was bought 6 years ago by City Group, like Troyes. We feel that it is the same ambition. Lommel stayed in D2 for 5 years. They had good players and they were struggling to move up. They succeeded last season (…) The idea is to train young people for Manchester City or the City Group, or to resell them. We feel that the idea will be the same in Eupen. Perhaps a few players trained at PSG could develop in Eupen and then return to Paris. But the gap is very big. Going directly from Eupen to PSG seems complicated. We feel that there is a more global project, than just lending players. On the other hand, the opposite seems more logical. Last season, Yoram Zague was loaned by Paris to Eupen. A club where he only spent 6 months (8 matches, 2 goals and 1 assist) before heading to Paphos. Eupen hopes to have some Parisian reinforcements in the future. The rise to D1 will be a way to accelerate the movement.
