On Saturday 12 August, the Spanish national professional football league (Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional - LALIGA) announced that it had lodged a complaint with the European Commission regarding the financing mechanisms of French football club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), which is owned by Qatar Sports Investments.
The complaint was lodged under the Regulation on foreign subsidies distorting the internal market (EU/2022/2560) which came into force on the same day (see EUROPE 13072/26, 13219/5).
LALIGA believes that PSG benefits from foreign funding provided by the State of Qatar and that this support constitutes resources on non-commercial terms that enable PSG to artificially improve its position on several national and European markets (player recruitment, audiovisual advertising, etc.).
Consequently, LALIGA believes that these mechanisms for financing PSG distort competition within the European Union’s internal market and damage the sport ecosystem. (Original version in French by Émilie Vanderhulst)