FRANCE: FOOTBALL/SOCCER: PSG chairman Nasser al Khelaifi says door is open to soccer star David Beckham if he still wants to be involved as PSG and Emirates renew partnership for five years
Record ID:
859374
FRANCE: FOOTBALL/SOCCER: PSG chairman Nasser al Khelaifi says door is open to soccer star David Beckham if he still wants to be involved as PSG and Emirates renew partnership for five years
- Title: FRANCE: FOOTBALL/SOCCER: PSG chairman Nasser al Khelaifi says door is open to soccer star David Beckham if he still wants to be involved as PSG and Emirates renew partnership for five years
- Date: 17th May 2013
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (MAY 17, 2013) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF PARC DES PRINCES STADIUM PARIS ST GERMAIN LOGO CHAIRMAN OF PSG CHARIMAN NASSER AL KHELAIFI AND VICE CEO OF EMIRATES THIERRY ANTINORI ENTERING CONFERENCE ROOM (FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY)
- Embargoed: 1st June 2013 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: France
- City:
- Country: France
- Topics: Sports
- Reuters ID: LVAZS3THK2SJWQXUYC79H69PZRK
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- Story Text: The chairman of Paris soccer club Paris St Germain said on Friday (May 17) that they were hopeful that player David Beckham would remain involved with the team in some capacity.
PSG head Nasser al Khelaifi told a news conference that the French league champions were keen to keep Beckham on board as the side extended their shirt sponsorship deal with Dubai airline Emirates by another five years.
"We are in discussion now. He just yesterday announced that he decided that he's going to retire, so we have time to discuss and we're discussing. For the next two weeks we're hopefully going to announce if we reach an agreement together. I hope we will because honestly we want him. I told him, "The door is open for you" and he wants to be involved so we're going to see how he's going to be involved," al Khelaifi said.
Emirates executive vice-president Thierry Antinori said the company were looking forward maintaining close ties with the league-winning club.
"It's a club that is among the winners, it's a club in the top eight in Europe, so that's the image of Paris St Germain. And what interests me and us is what their new ideas are and what they will do next season, because we feel a successful dynamic and we sense that they aren't going to stop there," Antinori told journalists.
Despite maintaining a relationship between the two parties that dates back to 2006, neither PSG president Nasser al-Khelaifi nor Emirates executive vice-president Thierry Antinori were prepared to reveal the official value of the agreement.
However, Antinori did say the amount was "a three-digit figure, so between 100 ($129.17 million) and 999 million euros" over five years as Emirates will be the only sponsor to appear on the PSG shirt next season.
According to media reports, the agreement was worth around 25 million euros a year, still significantly below the more lucrative shirt sponsorship deals in the English Premier League.
But al-Khelaifi said it would be in line with the UEFA's "Financial Fair Play" rules.
"You know, we always follow the rules and the law, any new rules or new law we follow it. This is our first rule in Paris St Germain, to follow all the rules and the law, so we will not have any problem with Financial Fair Play, we are working with the UEFA, very closely with Financial Fair play so we're not going to have a problem," he said.
From the next season onwards, UEFA will impose that all European clubs ensure their income is as large as their expenditure, and will be subject to a fine or even exclusion from the European League cups if they do not. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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