Latest news with #NasserAlKhelaifi
Associated Press
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
PSG star Dembélé raises Champions League trophy at the French Open
PARIS (AP) — Paris Saint-Germain took its Champions League success to the French Open on Monday when star striker Ousmane Dembélé raised the trophy to tennis fans. Sporting sunglasses, Dembélé walked on to the sun-bathed clay in Court Philippe-Chatrier. As he held the trophy aloft he shouted 'Ici c'est Paris!' (This is Paris!) — one of the favorite chants of PSG fans. Some of the crowd joined in a brief rendition of it. Dembélé was a key part of the PSG team which routed Inter Milan 5-0 on Saturday to win the Champions League for the first time. He set up one of the two goals scored by rising star Désiré Doué. After Dembélé walked off, on came 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic and Cameron Norrie for their fourth-round match at Roland-Garros. PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaïfi was in the crowd and he has an expert eye as as a former professional player. The 51-year-old Qatari played two ATP tour matches, including a loss to 1995 French Open champion Thomas Muster, and played for his nation in the Davis Cup. ___ AP tennis:
The Independent
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Ousmane Dembele gets hero's welcome as he presents Champions League trophy at French Open
Ousmane Dembele got a roaring welcome usually reserved for tennis champions when he presented Paris Saint-Germain 's freshly-won Champions League trophy to Roland Garros. PSG finally reached their holy grail to lift the elusive title on Saturday, thrashing Inter Milan 5-0 in what was the biggest winning margin of any final in the competition's history. The Parisians returned from Munich on Sunday and were met with a hero's welcome in the French capital, albeit after a night of chaos in the city as celebrations got out of hand. The festivities for Dembele, who was voted the Champions League player of the season, continued on Monday when he carried the prestigious trophy onto Court Philippe Chatrier for more than 10,000 people to see. He was wearing a white t-shirt with the word "triumph" written on it, with PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi watching on from the stands. Organisers could not have timed the brief ceremony better, with the Champions League title taking to the court just minutes before world number 361, wildcard and French home favourite Lois Boisson stunned third-seeded American Jessica Pegula in three sets to reach the last eight in the upset of the tournament. "This is Paris," shouted Dembele as the normally more reserved afternoon tennis crowd erupted with cheers. "Exceptional, it was a magic moment in Munich. We played an exceptional season and were rewarded with our first European Cup. "The individual titles are fine but it is the collective titles that matter. We will try to win as many titles as possible." PSG are only the second French side to win the European Cup after Marseille beat AC Milan in 1993.
New York Times
a day ago
- Business
- New York Times
There's much to like about PSG stars – but conflict in watching Champions League win
Football is not demarcated by black and white any more; not since colour television sent broadcast rights spiralling and the Champions League ball was stitched from a shade named 'solar slime'. There is plenty to like about Paris Saint-Germain, European champions for the first time in their history. Advertisement Their manager, Luis Enrique, is a kind man and an innovative coach, whose personal success is all the more gratifying for the tragedies suffered by his family. In Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Desire Doue and Bradley Barcola, they have a trio of wingers who play with the joy and verve of mountain springs made human. Over his career, Ousmane Dembele has been tossed on a sea of troubles, and at times sunk beneath its waters, but resurfaced to realise his sparkling potential. For more than a decade in this competition, PSG fans have been left blinking back tears of frustration many times more than tears of joy. In the microcosm, every player, staff member, and yes, possibly even executive, has their own individual story of overcoming and toil which, on Saturday night, was realised in the glare of a thousand camera flashes. Some would have you believe that this narrative extends to the macrocosm, and what PSG represent in an increasingly worldwide game. Globalisation is a good thing; it has given Georgia its Champions League hero, it has formed Paris' uniquely diverse footballing culture. For them — as PSG's president, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, congratulated his players on the podium — this was the moment that plucky Qatar, a nation of fewer than three million inhabitants, repaid its 14-year investment in a club with boundless untapped potential. Dumped out in the group stages of their home World Cup, this was the moment the country's sporting muscles were flexed, as confetti fell to crown just the second state-backed club to have won the Champions League. But not many would recognise that understanding of events. Football is aware that Qatar has tooled sport to obscure the brutality of its human rights record and to market its fossil fuel investments. But football, like other big business, is not governed by those misgivings. So there is conflict for many when watching the celebrations unfold. PSG's performance in their 5-0 win was moving in its elegance, a triumph of technical skill, industry, and bravery. Inter were dissected by an artist's sharp palette knife. But the club are still indelibly linked to the abuses of their nation-state owners — from the Qatar Airways badge on their shirts to the transfer fees for their constellation of starlets. Expect to see their image, lifting the giant silver trophy, on a Qatar Airways poster near you. This is cultural capital that money can buy. Remember that while PSG may have shifted their strategy towards young talent rather than galacticos, that talent did not come for free — they spent €240million (£202m; $272m) on new signings this season, on the back of €455m one year before. In its footballing strategy, this was a fully realised version of the much-maligned Chelsea project. Advertisement Of course, football is no Eden without its state-owned teams. The blitz of money which American hedge-fund investors are throwing towards the Premier League is not without its problems. Elsewhere, organised crime still has its tendrils in many parts of the sport across the globe, and the misty-eyed reverence for benevolent local tycoons is a notion that went extinct before the Tasmanian tiger. Clearly, the Glazer family are not good for football — but equally, they are not attempting to obscure the unexplained deaths of thousands of their migrant employees. PSG's Champions League win is a victory for every individual involved, for their own perseverance and ability. But every person, at once, carries both what we ourselves are and we as ourselves represent. As a collective, PSG's victory stands for something very different indeed.
Qatar Tribune
2 days ago
- Sport
- Qatar Tribune
Carnival atmosphere in Paris after Champions League success
PAMedia/DPA London Thousands of fans lined the Champs-Élysées on Sunday as Paris St Germain celebrated their Champions League triumph. PSG brought the trophy back to Paris for the first time after thrashing Inter Milan 5-0 in Munich on Saturday night - the record margin of victory in a Champions League final. The number of fans on the Champs-Élysées was limited to 100,000 after violence marred PSG's stunning victory. Two people died and the French interior ministry reported 559 arrests were made across France during the celebrations. But there was a carnival atmosphere in Paris as fans waved flags, lit flares and belted out the Queen anthem 'We Are The Champions.' An open top double-decker bus in the PSG colours of blue, red and white, with the words 'Champions D'Europe' written on it, made its way slowly down the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe. PSG president Nasser Al Khelaifi, chairman of club owners Qatar Sports Investments, and head coach Luis Enrique - who won the Champions League in 2015 with Barcelona and became the seventh manager to lift the trophy with two different clubs - led the celebrations. The trophy was passed down the bus to every player, who were proudly wearing their winner's medals. Defender Presnel Kimpembe grabbed the microphone to sing 'Ici c'est Paris!' (This is Paris) and captain Marquinhos urged FIFA to reward Ousmane Dembele by saying 'Ousmane, Ballon d'Or.' France forward Dembele scored eight goals in PSG's European campaign and was named by UEFA as the best player in this season's Champions League. After the parade, the players and staff were received at the Élysée Palace by French President Emmanuel Macron. The celebrations concluded at the Parc des Princes on Sunday evening with a trophy presentation in front of the club's season ticket holders.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
🎥 PSG celebrate in Paris: fireworks, Macron backs Al Khelaifi 🔥
The Champions League final against Inter was dominated by PSG, who won the 'Big Ears Cup' for the first time in their history. Everything had been ready for days: the Parisian team, who landed in Paris on a special plane and were led by president Nasser Al Khelaifi, paraded through the streets of the capital on two open-top buses, celebrating the triumph together with over 110,000 jubilant fans on the Champs-Élysées. Advertisement A procession of motorcycles and scooters accompanied the parade, with chants, flags, and flares, all the way to the Élysée Palace for a meeting with President Emmanuel Macron. 😅 Macron 'pushes' Al Khelaifi 🎇 Fireworks at the Arc de Triomphe 🏆 Dembélé, the celebration with the fans 😍 The welcome for Dembélé 🎉 The party at Parc des Princes Incredible joy in the streets of Paris for the first Champions League in the history of the French club. This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here. 📸 FRANCK FIFE - AFP or licensors
