Paris Saint-Germain coasted past three English clubs to reach the Champions League final and are enjoying a season of bliss.
But you’d be a fool to think serenity is the norm at one of the continent’s most notorious clubs, with a history marred by a toxic ultra culture and legal wrangles.
PSG are doing well to shed that image and become France’s family club, but that does not erase what passed before: hooligans stalking the streets, buses being set on fire, ultras turning viciously on players.
Leading the club is the driven but explosive president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, who was cleared of allegations he threatened to ‘kill’ a Real Madrid staff member in a heated clash and was accused earlier this season of being a ‘bully’ and a ‘tyrant’ by Lyon owner John Textor.
Nowadays the club is praised for fostering a community culture which has won them admirers across France, but this era of relative peace should not be taken for granted.
Without further ado, let’s dive into some of their past controversies and scandals.
PSG are heading into the Champions League final with an improved image after years of controversy
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Adrien Rabiot’s ‘prison’ exile
To kick us off, in a far cry from PSG’s replenished family image, we’re going back to 2019 when Adrien Rabiot’s mother span a foreboding yarn about the club’s culture.
‘Adrien is a prisoner,’ Veronique told L’Equipe. ‘He’s even a hostage to PSG. Soon it’s dry bread, water and dungeon! This environment is cruel… A footballer is made to play, not to stay in the closet.’
Scandalous claims? Yes. Strictly true? Probably not. But it is fair to say Rabiot became a persona non grata since reportedly refusing to renew his PSG deal in January 2019.
He was fined for being six minutes late for a team meeting because of a nap – though his mother noted that an injured Neymar was allowed to party at Rio Carnival.
The midfielder was fined after failing to meet up with his team-mates for a winter training camp in Qatar, but that was down to family tragedy – his grandmother had died.
To cap it all off, Rabiot was banished from the training ground for nightclubbing after Manchester United dumped them out of the Champions League – and liking Patrice Evra’s celebratory post.
A unified team at this stage, then? Not quite. Exile was the order.
Adrien Rabiot was exiled from the PSG team for a contract stand-off and his behaviour
His agent and mother argued that Rabiot was being treated as a ‘prisoner’ held hostage
Robberies, ‘violent buglaries’, and ‘curb-crawling’
So, these ones were out of PSG’s control, but they didn’t exactly embellish the reputation of the club and city as a desirable destination.
In March 2021, Angel Di Maria and Marquinhos suffered a fate most people dread – their homes, or those of family members, were burgled.
Di Maria was mysteriously substituted off in a game against Nantes and it later emerged that there had been a ‘violent burglary’ at his home in the affluent Neuilly-sur-Seine suburb, with around £420,000 worth of items taken. RMC claimed some of his family members had been there and held hostage.
The French outlet also shared that the home of defender Marquinhos’ parents had been robbed.
With team-mates left ‘shocked,’ PSG acted quickly to reassure them by equipping them with complementary 24-hour security at their homes.
Great work, but the criminals adapted. If we can’t ransack their homes, why not just rob them in public, they thought?
That was the unfortunate fate of Ander Herrera, who in October that year was reportedly divested of his wallet and phone by a prostitute in his car.
In his camp’s version of events: ‘To get home, he went through the Bois de Boulogne, and at a traffic light, someone got into his car and took the phone and wallet that were in view.’
Herrera was ordered to drive to a specific location to drop her off, at which point he did get his phone back – though he did find himself €200 (£167) out of pocket.
Ander Herrera was reportedly robbed by a prostitute in his car while driving in Paris
Angel Di Maria’s wife Jorgelina Cardoso and his two young daughters were reportedly caught up in a ‘violent burglary’ at their home – while he was playing!
Marquinhos’ (second from left) saw his parents’ home burgled and French reports stated that his father Marcos (pictured centre in white) was struck in the face, chest and ribs by intruders
Player arrested for aggravated violence – towards a TEAM-MATE
This is potentially one of the wildest football stories ever told.
In November 2021, two masked men intercepted a car containing PSG women’s stars Kheira Hamraoui and Aminata Diallo, the driver. The men dragged Hamraoui out of the car, beat her legs with an iron bar, and left her with large bruises and needing stitches.
Diallo was unharmed.
A few days later, Diallo was arrested on suspicion of organising the attack. Diallo and Hamraoui, both central midfielders, were in direct competition for the same place in both the PSG and French national team. Could it be that Diallo’s ambitions had led her to… this?
The story spread like wildfire, but Diallo was released without charge. Still, police reportedly bugged her phone and Crime Prevention Brigade of the judicial police of Versailles claimed they had found searches for ‘dangerous drug cocktail’ and ‘how to break a kneecap’.
Then, in September 2022, Diallo was placed in pre-trial detention charged with aggravated violence and criminal association. She was subsequently released under strict judicial supervision, then granted modified bail condition, which allowed her to play abroad.
The case has never gone to trial. Diallo has always denied any allegations made towards her. In February this year, French prosecutors told AFP they had concluded their investigation.
Her lawyer Mourad Battikh said: ‘The judicial investigation ends as it began: without any element to demonstrate the involvement or more broadly the guilt of Aminata Diallo in this case.’
You can read more about the controversial episode here.
Aminata Diallo (left) was accused of hiring hitmen against team-mate Kheira Hamraoui (right)
Hamraoui was attacked by masked men with an iron bar after being dragged from Diallo’s car, while her team-mate was untouched
Diallo was arrested twice and even charged with aggravated assault, but has always protested her innocence and never gone on trial
Diallo (far left) is said to have googled ‘how to break a kneecap’ as police bugged her phone
Diallo (left) is said to have developed a ‘pathological’ hatred towards her then-PSG team-mate, claimed a report from the Crime Prevention Brigade of the judicial police of Versailles
Turning on their own stars: Lionel Messi, Neymar, Layvin Kurzawa
PSG’s fans have often behaved ferociously towards their own players – not that they’re entirely unique in that. Every club has its more… passionate sections of the fanbase.
Left-back Layvin Kurzawa learned that lesson the hard way in March 2022 when he was confronted by fuming supporters, who forced open his car door to remonstrate with him outside the training ground.
The grievants were livid that the club had been knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid, but they were directing their ire at the wrong man. Kurzawa had not featured in the tie and had only played nine minutes all season.
Lionel Messi and Neymar had it worse for daring to leave in 2023.
After catching whiff of reports that Messi was headed for the exit, a throng gathered outside the training ground to chant, ‘Messi, son of a b****.’ Not that they had a leg to stand on – only a year before, they had graffitied ‘Messi out’ on the walls after their Champions League devastation.
Neymar’s silky feet weren’t exempt from bitterness, either. He gave six years of service to PSG, but in the May before he left, a crowd assembled outside his home to chant ‘Neymar, get lost!’ No wonder he ended up in Saudi Arabia.
Even their prospective players have felt the fans’ wrath.
When PSG were linked to Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic in the summer of 2023, ultras held up a banner outside the Parc des Princes which read: ‘If you come, we will cut off your three fingers.’
Marca claimed that the message is in response to the three fingers Vlahovic showed after a game with Serbia. This is said to refer to ‘Serbian supremacy over Kosovo’ and ‘could also mean a greeting made by a Serbian guerrilla of unification’.
Needless to say, Vlahovic didn’t sign. But Lucas Hernandez did that same summer, despite being warned he was ‘not welcome’ due to the fact his father Jean-Francois had played for Marseille in the 1990s, plus how he had beaten them with Bayern Munich in the 2020 Champions League final.
PSG ultras displayed a threatening message saying they will ‘cut off’ three of Dusan Vlahovic’s fingers if he signed for them
Fans turned sour towards Lionel Messi and Neymar towards the end of their spells at the club
Messages were mainly targeted at Messi and Nasser Al-Khelaifi with insults and calls for them to leave in the fallout after a miserable Champions League exit
A feisty president
Nasser Al-Khelaifi has become one of the most polarising figures in football: for some a visionary and relentless operator, for others a ‘plutocrat’ with his fingers in too many pies.
Not many reach the top of football without a hard edge. Al-Khelaifi, the bulldozer behind PSG since 2011, has one by many accounts.
We’re back at that 3-1 defeat by Real Madrid in 2022, PSG reeling in frustration after throwing away their Champions League progression, and Al-Khelaifi is seething.
The Qatari was said to have stormed through the corridors at the Bernabeu post-match, shouting and searching for referee Danny Makkelie, as per Marca.
The incident was described as ‘frankly unpleasant’ by reporter Monica Marchante, according to El Partidazo de COPE.
An excerpt of the referees’ report shared by L’Equipe read: ‘The president and technical director of PSG behaved aggressively and tried to enter the referees’ dressing room. When the referee asked them to leave, they blocked the door and the president deliberately hit the flag of one of the assistant.’
The PSG president, along with sporting director Leonardo reportedly ended up storming another room and coming face to face with Real Madrid delegate, Mejia Devila.
According to Diario AS, a Madrid employee recorded the incident with his mobile, Al Khelaifi noticed it and hit his phone threatening: ‘I’m going to kill you.’
PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi reportedly went on a furious rampage after the French side’s Champions League exit in 2022
However, he is paying for all the tickets and travel for the club’s staff for this year’s final
UEFA investigated and cleared Al-Khelaifi, a member of their executive committee. They banned Leonardo for one game.
Furthermore, this season, Crystal Palace and Lyon owner John Textor accused Al-Khelaifi of being a ‘bully’ and a ‘tyrant’ in a discussion between Ligue 1 chiefs over TV rights.
In a leaked video seen by L’Equipe and Complement d’enquete, Al-Khelaifi snapped back: ‘John, stop talking, you don’t understand anything, you’re from… I don’t know, cowboy, you’re coming, I don’t know (from) where, and you’re talking to us.’
However, he also has a generous side. He recently wrote to all 600 of the club’s staff members telling they that they will receive free tickets and travel arrangements for the Champions League final.
‘We are proud to be one family – the Paris Saint-Germain family – proudly representing Paris and France on the biggest stage,’ he wrote.
Fan trouble
Unfortunately, football hooliganism is still rife in England and on the continent – it’s in no way exclusive to PSG.
In their two clashes with Newcastle in 2023, the Parisian fans went hunting for trouble. Chilling images from the French capital showed a mass of black-clad ultras roaming the streets looking to root out Toon fans.
Eventually they happened across the Newcastle supporters at a cafe, and proceeded to attack: glasses were smashed, windows were broken, chairs were thrown, and there were also reports of a flare being chucked.
Earlier this month, PSG fans were reportedly teargassed in a clash with riot police as tensions flared ahead of their semi-final second leg against Arsenal.
And then there’s the notorious incident of two buses being set on fire in clashes between PSG and Lyon fans ahead of the French Cup final last year.
Clashes broke out on the motorway as fans made their way to the match at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille.
Footage on social media showed two buses on fire by a motorway toll tooth at Fresnes-les-Montauban, near Arras, in northern France.
Videos showed supporters surrounding buses, with flares thrown and windows reportedly being smashed.
Two buses were set on fire as Lyon and PSG supporters clashed ahead of the French Cup final last year
Footage on social media saw supporters surrounding buses carrying rival fans
A large group of hooded PSG fans went ‘looking for’ Newcastle supporters in the French city
Newcastle United fans appeared to be targeted by PSG ultras in Paris in 2023
The clashes reportedly involved 100 Lyon supporters and 200 PSG fans, according to police sources, as reported by AFP.
Around 20 supporters were injured in the clashes, while eight police officers were reportedly hurt.
