Europe 1 with AFP 19:32 p.m., March 15, 2023

The Minister of Sports and the Olympics, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, is open to the idea of a foreign investor taking an interest in the Stade de France, which is looking for a new owner or concessionaire for 2025. It does not close the door to Qatari investors who had shown interest in a potential takeover.

The Minister of Sports and Olympic Games, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, said Tuesday in the Senate that there was "no reason to exclude a priori" a foreign investor for the Stade de France who is looking for either a new owner or a new concessionaire from the summer of 2025. The State launched last week two procedures in parallel: either a sale or a concession because the current concession ends in July 2025.

PSG, a club owned by Qatari shareholders (QSI), said it would apply for the takeover. Asked by centrist senator Laurent Lafon whether the French state, owner of the stadium, could sell this "sporting emblem" to "a structure belonging to a foreign state", Amélie Oudéa-Castéra did not exclude it.

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"The best project"

If "there were to be one that meets the protective conditions, which in the context of a transfer would in any case be set by law, or if this foreign investor were to participate in a group of operators, there is no reason to exclude it a priori and on principle," she said during the question session with the government in the Senate. She reiterated that the State was looking for "the best long-term project" by keeping "the sporting vocation of the stadium" and "preserving the economic and financial interests of the State".

Asked also about the role of the Football and Rugby Unions, she replied that they were "free to apply, free to associate with a candidate, free to negotiate the conditions of use of the stadium". "What is important is that they can exchange with all candidates in compliance with fairness and competition law," she added.

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€647 million

The State published on March 7 the two calls for tenders with a date of delivery of the "envelopes" on April 27 at 12:00, according to documents consulted by AFP, and includes among the conditions the need to "carry out a minimum base of work" including "ticketing and access control to doors, access gates, enclosure gates, public information at the doors, computer redundancy, video surveillance storage".

The tenders submitted, both for the sale and for a concession, will be studied in 2024, for a probable award in 2025. Since 1995, a consortium made up of the two French construction giants Vinci and Bouygues (respectively 2/3 and 1/3) has operated the stadium created for the 1998 World Cup. The price of the Stade de France is estimated at "647 million euros" (gross values) according to the 2021 State account.