PSG in the race to buy Stade de France

PARIS: French champions Paris Saint-Germain on Friday confirmed it is in the race to buy the Stade de France, the centre piece for next summer’s Olympics.

The French government has launched a call for tenders to find a buyer at a price of around 600 million euros ($635 million) for the 81,500-seater stadium, the largest in France, whose current lease expires on July 1, 2025.

PSG’s announcement follows a hitherto unsuccessful bid by the club’s Qatari owners to buy the Parc des Princes, which has been its home for almost 50 years, from the Paris City Council to be able to expand it.

“We are candidates for the Stade de France,” a PSG source said, confirming a report in the French sports daily L’Equipe, adding that it had not yet put in its bid.