PARIS: France’s capital city may finally be about to have a second major football club, and a challenger to Paris St-Germain, with a takeover of Paris FC by the country’s richest family along with energy drinks giant Red Bull expected to be announced in the coming days.

The Arnault family and Red Bull’s proposed investment in Paris FC announced on Thursday is set to give the French capital a second top club to bring the city into line.

Currently businessman Pierre Ferracci owns the majority share of the club. Now The Arnault family, owners of the LVMH luxury goods conglomerate, with Red Bull are expected to secure major stakes.

The takeover could completely transform the footballing landscape in France, where the domestic league has been dominated by PSG since their acquisition by Qatar Sports Investments in 2011.

It could also lead to Paris having two teams in the top flight for the first time in over three decades, since Racing Paris were relegated in 1990.

That has created a stark footballing contrast between Paris and other major European cities, notably London which has seven clubs in this season’s Premier League.

A source said the Arnault family — France’s richest, with LVMH CEO Bernard and his five children — would acquire a controlling stake of 55 per cent with Red Bull taking 15 per cent of the club.

The remaining 30 per cent would remain in the hands of Ferracci before passing over to the Arnault family in 2027.

Despite the possible challenge to PSG, their ownership welcomed the prospect of a new rival on their doorstep.

“It is great news for Paris and for French football,” was the response of Nasser al-Khelaifi last week according to the entourage of the PSG president.

Ambitions could then be sky-high for a club already primed to win promotion to Ligue 1 this season.

The involvement of Red Bull could be pivotal, given its proven success elsewhere, with its stable of football clubs led by Champions League regulars RB Leipzig.

Paris FC are closely related to Paris St-Germain. They were formed in 1969 and quickly merged with a team from the suburb of Saint-Germain to form PSG.

There was a split in 1972. Paris FC were relegated from the top flight in 1974 and have only had one season there since, in 1978/79.

It is only in the last decade that they have become regulars again in Ligue 2, and now they top the table.

If PSG are associated with Qatar, Bahrain are the shirt sponsors of Paris FC.

Levels of investment are nowhere near the scale of what has been seen at PSG, but Paris FC still spent upwards of one million euros ($1.087 million) before this season on striker Jean-Philippe Krasso from Red Star Belgrade.

They also signed former Mars­eille midfielder Maxime Lopez, who played in Serie A last season for Fiorentina, but appear unlikely to invest huge sums in the transfer market immediately.

“Contrary to some of the nonsense I have heard, we have absolutely no intention to spend big in the January window,” sporting dire­ctor Francois Ferracci told Le Parisien.

While PSG attract over 45,000 fans to the Parc des Princes and are considering building a bigger stadium, Paris FC’s recent home games have drawn fewer than 6,000 spectators on average.

That is despite offering free admission to matches at the Stade Charlety, an unloved 20,000-capacity venue in southern Paris.

“If we could start to get 10-15,000 fans at every home game that would be huge,” the team’s coach, Stephane Gilli, said in an interview published by the club.

The longer-term ambitions are clearly far greater for a club who have a notable ambassador in the shape of former PSG and Brazil star Rai.

“I want Parisians to believe that Paris deserves at least two top-flight clubs of a good level,” Rai, who holds a small stake in Paris FC, told France Info radio earlier this year.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2024