Former PSG legend, Luis Fernandez criticized the capital club’s lack of consideration towards him.
Player and coach of PSG, Luis Fernandez left an indelible mark in the history of the Rouge et Bleu. Among the main architects of the first French championship title won by the capital club in 1986, the former midfielder was also on the Parisian bench when PSG won their first (and only) European Cup, the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1996. Enough to make him one of the club’s most emblematic characters and deserve some respect.
Recently elevated to the rank of Knight of the Legion of Honor, Luis Fernandez hoped to receive his decoration on the lawn of the Parc des Princes. “It was the perfect place”, he whispered in the columns of Le Parisien. Alas, the Parisian leaders did not seem to be of the same opinion and the discussions were unsuccessful. It is therefore at the Paris City Hall that the native of Tenerife will receive his distinction from the hands of his former partner with the Blues, Michel Platini.
“I imagined a platform to thank the public”, he confided, bitterly, explaining that this ceremony could have been an opportunity to highlight other former glories of the club, like Raï, Bathenay, Rocheteau, Dahleb, Susic or Jean-Marc Pilorget, record holder for the number of matches played for PSG with 435 matches. This refusal by Parisian leaders is another example of PSG’s lack of regard for its former glories.
“I am disappointed because at PSG, recognition of veterans does not exist. I already realized it on the evening of PSG-Milan. I wanted to enter the square to show an Italian friend a visit and I was refused access,” he said for this purpose. Comments which are not those he had made in the columns of The Team last winter. “We don’t respect enough the people who served, wore the jersey with dignity. In Spain with Butragueno, vice-president of Real Madrid, in Italy with Paolo Maldini, technical director (of AC Milan), or in Germany, clubs are making greater use of their alumni. But in France, and not just at PSG, we tend to put them aside. he regretted.
