After years of verbal attacks against its ownership and funding excesses, Paris Saint-Germain’s leadership has had enough of the abuse, responding officially in writing to Spanish league president Javier Tebas to vehemently protest his “insulting and defamatory statements” about the Qatari-owned club, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press.
Tebas delivered some familiar broadsides on Tuesday about PSG benefiting from state funding, followed by fresh digs against the club for signing Lionel Messi from Barcelona.
Tebas was speaking hours after PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi completed his first general assembly as head of the European Club Association – the latest high-profile role for the Qatari, who also sits on the UEFA executive committee along with Tebas.
Paris St Germain have hit back strongly at Tebas after he acrimoniously mocked the age of the French club’s players and their spending, saying he should concern himself instead with the debt and “mismanagement” in LaLiga.
Tebas, a long-standing critic of Qatar-backed PSG’s spending, told a news conference that PSG’s spending was dangerous for football after they signed 35-year-old Sergio Ramos from Real Madrid and 34-year-old Lionel Messi from Barcelona during the recent transfer window.
“PSG looks like the league of legends given the age of some players. LaLiga has young players like Vinicius (Junior). The problem of PSG, we will solve it,” Tebas had said.
“What PSG are doing is as dangerous as the Super League.
“We will continue to grow despite the departure of Messi. We will work against the club states. These clubs are as much enemies as the Super League.”
A letter from PSG General Secretary, Victoriano Melero, seen by Reuters, replied that Tebas was engaged in “diversion” from Spanish football’s own problems and that he should also deal with rebel clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona who remain committed to a breakaway European Super League project that is still lurking surreptitiously in the wings.
Tebas, who had also often taken aim at Abu Dhabi-backed Premier League club Manchester City’s spending, has frequently questioned how PSG, who are owned by Qatari Investment Authority, are able to comply with UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations.
“Time after time, you allow yourself to publicly attack the French League, our club, our players – together with players of other clubs – and the fans of French football; while constantly posting insulting and defamatory statements insinuating that we do not conform to the football financial regulations, amongst other unsubstantiated statements,” Melero replied in a letter on Wednesday, insisting that PSG was always in full compliance with UEFA and French domestic regulations.
“The French League did not, like your League, wait until recent years to take actions and put in place strong financial regulations,” he said.
“It is now publicly-known that certain Spanish clubs and your League are facing unsustainable levels of debt after gross mismanagement, not to mention the way Spanish football has been financed over the past decade – including by the State,” the PSG general secretary added, in an indirect reference to state aid received by Barcelona and Real Madrid in the past as both clubs have openly admitted they are battling huge levels of debt and have struggled to compete in recent transfer windows.
“You are … directly and disrespectfully attacking the players, simply because they decided to leave your competition, while at the same time you have been taking full advantage of having these world-greatest players in promoting your League until very recently,” Melero wrote.
“Your remarkable comments on the age of these players not only insults their past and current roles in defining how our great game is played, but also the millions of fans around the world who idolize them,” added the PSG official.
“I am quite surprised you are not focusing more of your attention on the two clubs in your League that remain steadfast focused on breaking up your League, and European football as a whole.
“We invite you to focus on solving your domestic issues, which you are responsible for, and to stop your transparent and repeated diversion attempts.”
The French League (LFP) also said Tebas should focus on his league’s own problems.
“However, the LFP wishes to point out that the financial largesse from which Spanish clubs have benefited for many seasons and which is at the root of the current problems, is neither its responsibility nor that of Paris St Germain.
“The LFP asks Mr. Javier Tebas to watch his outrageous statements, which [are] not worthy of the institution he represents.”