Since Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) first purchased a majority stake\u00a0in Paris Saint-Germain in 2011, they have not been indolent but have instead spent massive amounts of money\u00a0seeking domestic dominance and European success on the pitch.<\/p>\n
The quest for pre-eminence in the former has since become routine \u2014 save for an upset last season, when they emerged runners-up to Lille. Unfortunately the pursuit of the holy grail of the Uefa Champions League trophy has so far proved elusive although highly commendable.<\/p>\n
Messi\u2019s epochal arrival brings with it an apochryphal sense that the coming season is crunch time at the Parc des Princes for the Parisien outfit to rock the football world and announce its coming of age. Having already signed the likes of Italian goalkeeper and Euro 2020 winner Gianluigi Donnarumma\u00a0from AC Milan, and former Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos,\u00a0reinforced further with the likes of Giorginio Wijnaldum and Achraf Hakimi, anything short of lifting the Champions League trophy next May would widely be viewed as a colossal failure.<\/p>\n
If they do manage to win it, the symbolism of such a victory would of course be monumental and extremely telling, as just five months down the road the small Gulf state would be playing host to the 2022 Fifa World Cup, an altogether grand sporting event of premium international stature in itself. This would then wrap up an altogether stellar year for Qatar and its investments in football, which would be seen as a colossal win not only on the pitch but even more so off it as well.<\/p>\n
It had seemed like forever, since 1971, when Qatar ceased to be a British protectorate, the little country\u2019s ruling family has been diligently brainstorming on how best to sustainably manage its wealth of natural resources while also focus on developing new alternative resources of revenue streams for the nation. Faced with the pressing visionary need to diversify its economy away from an almost total dependence on gas and oil, in 2008 the leaders of the country pressed pedal to metal and launched its all-new 2030 national vision.<\/p>\n
The primary aim was to \u201ctransform Qatar into an advanced society capable of achieving sustainable development\u201d<\/em>. This is the actual genesis of a new development strategy of which sport and football are key elements behind the new posturing for the once small oil nation.<\/p>\n Perhaps to others, the World Cup is but a 4-week tournament at most, a sporting international event involving all the countries of the world. However, to the Qatari nation, for the sake of economic amelioration for the sustainable future, the owners and leaders of the country could ill afford to be myopic in their visions and just seize upon the World Cup as just a one-off event.<\/p>\n To these visionaries with their immensely deep pockets, staging the World Cup is as much about promoting a new foundation of infrastructural development that is not only primarily insitu<\/em> but, more importantly, is infinitely far-reaching whilst being equally effective as it is an exciting four-week football tournament that would generate new interest in the tiny Gulf nation as a holistic, tourist destination for the long term.<\/p>\n In incubating the plan, the nation\u2019s planners first strategy was to acquire Paris Saint-Germain to set up its overseas European base as its operational headquarters to make immediate money via the rapidly-growing football economies while also painting new warm, vibrant tapestries of Qatari besides extending its influence across the world.<\/p>\n Suffice it to say also that while Qatar is seriously invested in the business of national strategic development, it also retains grand political ambitions. Indeed, its government is not shy to use football as the means to achieving other political ends, of which PSG\u2019s signing of Messi\u2019s former Barcelona teammate Neymar is a prime example.<\/p>\n Qatar used that record-breaking \u00a3198million\u00a0Neymar deal in 2017 to show the world – and its immediate neighbors, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – its financial muscle and independence. It also symbolized how the government in Doha views football as part of its soft power armory, a subtle, yet equally effective, way of engaging global audiences intrigued by the signing of football\u2019s best talents, of which the Brazilian was the first.<\/p>\n Some will no doubt view Lionel Messi signing for PSG within the same perspective. In the proverbial nutshell, his expected contribution to the club\u2019s success will ensure that Qatar\u2019s projection of soft power continues, while the status, image and reputation of \u201cbrand Qatar\u201d are further burnished.<\/p>\n This would imply that, rather than being the main event, Lionel Messi is essentially incidental to the broader ambitions of Qatar, with the commercial deals, sponsorships and shirt sales\u00a0the Argentinian helps to secure being counted as important revenue streams.<\/p>\n