Paris Saint-Germain have officially announced their sponsorship deal with the Qatar Tourism Authority which will net the Ligue 1 champions up to €200 million a year. Mooted last season, the agreement was publicly confirmed on Tuesday making PSG the first club to be sponsored by a state.
Income from the deal, which will reportedly be retroactively paid back to 2012, is said to increase incrementally year-on-year through to a reported maximum €200m come 2016.
Paris Saint-Germain have officially announced their sponsorship deal with the Qatar Tourism Authority which will net the Ligue 1 champions up to €200 million a year. Mooted last season, the agreement was publicly confirmed on Tuesday making PSG the first club to be sponsored by a state.
Income from the deal, which will reportedly be retroactively paid back to 2012, is said to increase incrementally year-on-year through to a reported maximum €200m come 2016.
The sum will significantly help offset PSG’s annual budget, which this year totals €430m euros, though the club will also have to provide details of the agreement to UEFA before European football’s governing body takes it into account with regard to the club’s obligations to meet Financial Fair Play regulations.
The issue here is whether it constitutes a related party transaction. The UEFA rules state that ‘a transaction is deemed to be not transacted on an arm’s length basis if it has been entered into on terms more favourable to either party than would have obtained if there had been no related party relationship.’
Writing in his blog, sports lawyer Daniel Geey states, ‘only when UEFA and the French national football association have looked closely at whether the deal will qualify as a RPT will an assessment of the practical RPT test become clearer. Before then, I am afraid, it remains something of a guessing game.’