French Ligue 1 football club Paris Saint-Germain is set to extend its lucrative sponsorship deal with Qatar Tourism Authority, according to Le Parisien.
The French newspaper said the two parties have agreed to extend an initial four-year deal that was first unveiled in October 2013 and expired on June 30.
The partnership was first revealed in December 2012 and while terms were not officially disclosed, French media outlets reported at the time that it was worth between €150m ($169.7m) and €200m per year with the contract back-dated to 2012 and increasing in value on an annual basis through 2016.
Le Parisien said that the new contract will be worth around €175m for 2016-17, accounting for 30 per cent of PSG’s budget for the new season. The newspaper added that the agreement should be settled in the coming weeks and will be approved by European football’s governing body Uefa.
The original deal had proved a contentious one with Uefa having closely examined it to ensure the contract met Financial Fair Play requirements. The initial deal was said to be worth twice the club’s revenues for the 2010-11 season. PSG deputy chief executive Jean-Claude Blanc had moved to play down accusations of a conflict of interests between QTA and PSG’s owners Qatar Sports Investments, stating that one entity was a public body and the other an investment fund.
PSG hailed the original deal as breaking new ground in commercial agreements for sports organisations, with QTA leveraging the growing global brand of the Ligue 1 champion to promote Qatar as a travel destination.
PSG said the deal opened up new markets to the club, and provided access to an even bigger audience, in line with its global development strategy. Under the terms of the deal, PSG was also able to access world-class training facilities in Qatar such as the ASPIRE Zone.