PSG: A tool & a source of pride for Qatar

http://www.paristeam.fr/club/le-psg-un-outil-et-une-fierte-au-qatar-119752.html

Secretary General of the Qatar Olympic Committee, Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, who admits that the PSG allows Qatar to gain visibility in the world: "Having PSG is important for our strategy. The means of communication it offers ... a political act only affects some people. Sports touches the world; it penetrates every home. This is an easy way to reach different audiences. Sports makes so much possible. (...) For PSG, our leaders have proposed not only bring the club to the title, but a victory in the Champion's League. I think it is not a complicated objective. I'm sure we will succeed one day."

Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed al-Thani, the Qatari president of the federation of football. "Today, in Qatar, PSG has become like a part of ourselves. Here, people do not really seem to support a foreign club when they watch the matches on TV of PSG, including its meetings of the Champions League, the competition that the club did not play last season "

Al-Nasser Khelaifi, president of PSG, is also on the same wavelength but nevertheless remembers that the PSG is and will remain a French club, despite the fact that it has become a real tool for Qatar and its Qatari owners: "We develop the brand in the Arab world in general and in this particular region. Here, now you feel a passion with people for PSG which is more palpable than a year ago. This is due to the effect of time and the fact that we came this year with more stars than last winter. And then, the exhibition in the Champions League, it helps a lot too. Nowadays, the club of the citizens of Qatar is PSG. People love it. Do people associate now routinely Qatar to PSG? Of course. That is why this contract with QTA is justified. PSG's image is very important for Qatar. But I want to clarify: PSG is a French club and we are proud to be in France, to be part of Ligue 1, to be part of the family of French football. But it is true that now it also has a strong impact in the Arab world. Tuesday evening, when the players and the staff came here to the Tennis Open, two boys were brought before the VIP village and told me: "Please, we are in Dubai and want to just come take a picture with Ancelotti and the players." A year ago, you would never have imagined this. We see that the PSG radiates throughout the region, not only in Qatar. Today we built a brand in France and internationally. We want people to like PSG. This is our goal. In France, all the stadiums are full when we play. This is a sign that there are people everywhere who love PSG, right? (He smiles.)"