Communist senator Fabien Gay and 16 of his parliamentary colleagues tabled a motion for a resolution to ask the State not to sell the Stade de France
“Would you have the idea of ??selling the Eiffel Tower or the Garnier opera house, and what’s more, to a foreign power?” asked Senator Fabien Gay (PCF), last September, when a sale by the The State of the Stade de France was envisaged. In March 2023, the State launched a double call for applications for the transfer or concession of the emblematic enclosure. Candidates had until Wednesday January 3 to submit their applications.
While the Qatari fund that owns PSG has finally given up on acquiring the stadium, the possible sale remains. Before Christmas, the senator from Seine-Saint-Denis and sixteen of his parliamentary colleagues from the communist group tabled a proposed resolution “inviting the government not to sell the Stade de France”. “Public ownership of the site, since its creation, seals its heritage vocation and intrinsically combats the idea that private sector money could buy everything, and have exclusive rights to the heritage of an entire nation,” declare the senators in their text. If they say they want to exclude any private sales, the senators concede that “it is appropriate to develop proposals to move towards a more virtuous operating model”.
Fabien Gay affirms that the Stade de France is “a sports venue but it is also a monument” and that it “cannot be sold off to the private sector, in the same way as our highways or our hydroelectric dams”. The senator fears an increase in the prices for tickets to shows and sporting events, if there is a cessation. “If tomorrow it is sold to private interests, you will no longer control anything,” he assures. “Profitability will come from VIPs, while the price of other places is already very high.”
