Champions League: A Paris Saint-Germain win is a win for Qatar

Paris Saint-Germain’s owners have a laundry list of ethical and moral failures.

The Qatari state has been linked with funding extremist Islamic groups, playing a role in the FIFA bribery scandals that led to the country being awarded the 2022 World Cup, and violating the fundamental human rights of women, gay, lesbian, and transgender people, and migrant workers.

For example, in his book, The Billionaires Club, James Montague wrote the following:

"“Like most other Gulf states, Qatar is a small but immensely rich absolute monarchy that has boomed in recent years. Its populationis far smaller than that of the nearby UAE – just 2.5 million people, of whom only 10 percent are Qatari. The rest are migrant workers subject to an even stricter form of kafala that also requires an employer’s permission before any worker can even leave the country. Hundreds of thousands of migrant workers from India, Nepal, Bangaldesh and other south and southeast Asian states have complained of the same forms of abuse as elsewhere in the Gulf: non-payment of wages, awful conditions, a high fatality rate among young men working in the incredible heat.” — James Montague, The Billionaires Club"

QIA has used its vast reserves of oil money to diversify its financial portfolio beyond its primary revenue stream. This investment strategy is incredibly sound.

The state investment fund has utilized QSI to create a niche in the sports and entertainment industry. Paris SG is the crown jewel of their efforts as they are, according to Forbes, the 11th most valuable club in football.

However, with Qatar’s record of civil rights abuses and links to religious extremism, is QSI a fit and proper owner of Paris St. Germain or any club?

My answer is a resounding ‘no.’