PSG ultras petition for Al-Khelaifi meeting and slam ‘flashy signings’ policy
A collective of Paris Saint-Germain ‘Ultras’ requested another meeting with club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi on Saturday, while complaining about the ‘compulsive buying of flashy names’ and calling for a return of the team’s famous Hechter kit design.
In a press statement, the Collectif Ultras Paris lamented the club for putting marketing ahead of sporting priorities and warned that staff turnover on and off the pitch brings the same results every season.
Some would argue PSG have never had it so good as their success during the Qatar Sports Investments era – since 2011 – has far surpassed anything previously achieved. They have won eight of the last 10 Ligue 1 titles, having previously been champions only twice, while reaching the Champions League final in 2020.
It doesn’t convince the Ultras, however, as the club’s most die-hard supporters insist the club has underperformed.
An 11th Ligue 1 title this year would make PSG the most successful team in the history of the competition as they currently share a record 10 with Saint-Etienne.
The Ultras said in their statement: “Seasons go by and look the same. Players, coaches and sports directors follow one another and the same causes have the same effects. Once again, our club has not lived up to its national and European goals.”
The group pointed to an early exit of the Coupe de France at the hands of fierce rivals Marseille, a “flat” Champions League round of 16 loss to Bayern Munich and a struggle for dominance in the domestic league.
PSG are seven points clear of Marseille with ten rounds of Ligue 1 games remaining.
The club have been able to attract big stars like Lionel Messi, Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Marco Verratti, Sergio Ramos and Gianluigi Donnarumma but the goal of becoming European champions remains frustratingly out of reach.
The Ultras said: “However, we have chosen to maintain our support in the stands for now, not to see players as scapegoats of a poorly constructed roster, sports politics with no real direction, the compulsive buying of flashy names with no concern for the balance of the team and the politics of a club where marketing seems to take precedence over sport.
“We will therefore continue our support until the 11th title of French champions, which is said to be historic, has been acquired for our club.”
The group added: “We ask for the umpteenth time that we meet quickly with President Nasser Al-Khelaifi to verbally explain to him the many problems we have faced in and around the club for many years, sporting and non-sporting, have noticed.”
They want to address a ticketing issue the group says favors “tourists and other VIPs” and are upset about PSG abandoning the style of jersey pioneered by fashion designer Daniel Hechter, who was known in the 1970s as Club President worked.
This home kit design featured a thick red stripe with thin white lines down either side down the center of a largely navy blue jersey.
This season it’s been reversed, with a thick white stripe and thin red lines, and fans are outraged and also demanding that PSG remain at the Parc des Princes amid concerns over a possible move to the Stade de France.
“We want profound changes and guarantees regarding the permanent return of the Hechter jersey,” said the Ultras.
They added: “Our love for the club knows no bounds, not our patience.”