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Qatar-owned Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League for the first time, the culmination of a 14-year project in the Gulf state to transform the French club into a superpower of football.
Within the Allianz Arena in Munich, PSG defeated the aging Intermilan side. The 5-0 scoreline was the widest margin in the Champions League final.
Qatar Sports Investment, a state support fund, purchased PSG. There has since been little record of success and a reputation for violence in the match. A few months ago, Qatar had earned the right to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The new owners have come to dominate domestic football by pouring money into clubs to attract big names such as David Beckham and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The team won 11 league titles in 14 years since the acquisition, but so far only appeared in the previous Champions League final in 2020, when it lost to Bayern Munich.
Under Qatar’s ownership, the club spent 2.3 billion euros on transfer fees, according to estimates from TransferMarkt, which is similar to Manchester City, an English club owned by members of the Abu Dhabi royal family.
The victory in Munich is a testament to the club’s recent shift from its previous approach to signing the megastar. Following the exit of Front 3, the team was rebuilt around young and inexpensive talent following the exits of Neymar, Lionel Messi and Killianm Bappe.
Saturday night’s results are the second time in two years when a Gulf state-backed team has won a top club competition on the continent. The city won in 2023.
On the way to be the European champion, PSG broke several financial records. In 2017, it destroyed global transfer records to buy Neymar from Barcelona for 222 million euros. That fee has not yet exceeded, but it was the closest thing ever since PSG signed Mbappé for 180 million euros a year later.
After signing Messi in 2021, PSG recorded the highest wage bill in football history. EUR 728 million per year was 109% of the club’s revenue.
PSG ranked third in Deloitte’s 2025 soccer club rankings, after only Real Madrid and Manchester City. When Qatar bought the club, it failed to make the top 30. A report published last week by consulting firm Soccer Benchmarks placed the corporate value on the 3.7 billion euro club.
The rise of the club reflects the fortunes of Qatar President Nasser al-Keraifi. The former tennis player was a vocal opponent in the failed Europa Super League.
He is currently the chairman of the European Clubs Association, a first-team lobby group, and is a member of the Executive Committee of UEFA, the governing body of European football. He is also chairman of Bein, a Qatar-based sports broadcaster, and is on the board of directors of the Qatar Investment Bureau, the country’s sovereign wealth fund.
Critics have long complained that PSG spending has hurt soccer by increasing transfer fees and wages, but human rights groups see Qatar’s ownership as “sportswasing.”
PSG’s European victory will have French football in the midst of a financial crisis. The league struggled to find a broadcasting station last summer, and ultimately agreed to a deal for a reduced price with sports streamer Dazn at the last minute.
However, that relationship has deteriorated due to low demand from viewers, leaving the league in Limbo once again about where future games will air. Unlike PSG, which appeared in the Champions League and large sponsorship deals, most French clubs rely heavily on domestic television money.
