Ligue 1: "State backing of Paris SG... destroyed the attractiveness of French football" (J-M Aulas)

"The State backing of Paris Saint-Germain has upset the economic balance and destroyed the attractiveness of French football by breaking its dynamics. Its a contradiction of the spirit of entrepreneurship and the lucidity of the liberal business world," said Jean-Michel Aulas, president of Olympique Lyonnais (Ligue 1), on 30/08/2016.

"We have a State to compete with, we are faced with an investor who is not a liberal entrepreneur but a State which invests considerable sums in losses, without hope of a return on investment," added Jean-Michel Aulas, in an interview on the French TV channel BFM Business.

"The direct help of the State of Qatar Tourism Authority is to the tune of €175m per year, and there are more than a dozen other sponsors from the Qatari State whose assistance represents hundreds of millions. This form of State assistnce goes far beyond the budget of the OL. We are not at all in this economic league," said the president of the OL.

• The Chinese investment fund IDG Capital Partners has entered into the capital of OL Groupe at 20% for €100m, announced Olympique…