If you thought Wednesday night’s Champions League action could not get any wilder, PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi did something truly shocking and detestable after his team’s 3-1 loss to Real Madrid in the second leg.
The brazen, overly entitled leader of the PSG project already raised eyebrows in the first leg during the half when he and Leonardo tried to influence the referee angrily over some innocuous decisions. Things got even worse when his team was knocked out of the Champions League, as he accosted the officials after the match.
COPE initially reported the incident, stating that Leonardo and Al-Khelaifi were particularly upset over the challenge from Karim Benzema on PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma that led to Real Madrid’s opening goal. They reported that things got so bad, the police were called in.
But you may not be prepared for how bad things got.
Apparently Al-Khelaifi broke an official’s equipment, and both he and sporting director Leonardo were “very aggressive” overall. Even his own bodyguards had to intervene to stop him.
PSG’s leadership group is a disgrace to football
All of this was being recorded by a Real Madrid staff member. And rightfully so. Such an embarrassing, shocking, unprofessional, and unsafe situation must be recorded so there is evidence and the perpetrators can be held to account. Of course, Leonardo, as per the above report, did not want this stuff out in public and asked for them to be deleted. Though there were UEFA officials who witnessed everything that transpired.
At least Leonardo had the decency to ask. Because Nasser Al-Khelaifi reportedly told the Real Madrid staff member recording the disgraceful incident that he would kill him.
Maybe you will say. this is not an actual death threat and that Al-Khelaifi was not serious. But any statement like that is considered a death threat, going to someone’s face and saying you are going to kill them. Al-Khelaifi is a very powerful man who could conceivably have someone killed. On top of all this, you would think someone dealing with a criminal case would be more careful with their conduct.
Yes, Al-Khelaifi is facing a possible 28-month prison sentence for his role in “FIFAgate”. Yes, probably nothing will come of this, but it still shows an example of Al-Khelaifi’s motives and character being called into question. Throw in this disgusting, unprofessional display after losing a football match – of which he did not even actually play in – and you can see why so few people should respect the PSG president or believe he is anyone with scruple.
There need to be. consequences. Al-Khelaifi basically owns UEFA as ECA chair, and Ligue 1, FIFA, and UEFA are clearly in the bag of the Qatari ownership. This is a monopoly, and Al-Khelaifi acts like a man who thinks he is above reproach, above the law, and above any basic sense of human decency. I do not have high hopes anything will be done, but this is intolerable behavior.
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And on a side note, I am glad Kylian Mbappe is getting the hell out of this club. Mbappe will never be sold or leave for free? Who the hell would ever want to play for PSG with his kind of “leadership”? If you are a fan of football, you cannot be a fan of these clowns.