'Is it because we're Arabs?' - PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi accuses Parisian authorities of anti-Qatari discrimination amid Parc des Princes sale furore

The Ligue 1 champions want to purchase the stadium from the City of Paris, which currently owns it, but deputy mayor David Belliard recently said that any proposal to sell the stadium would be opposed. Al-Khelaifi has since suggested that their refusal to sell to PSG could be down to the club's Qatari ownership.

"Why? Because we are Qatar, because we are Arabs? No, that's not good," he said on RMC Sport.

Asked if he believes racism is behind the city's stance, Al-Khelaifi said: "I think that even legally he cannot say that. It's really serious."

He added: "It hurt me a lot. Not for me because I don't really know who this deputy is. But if I really hear it as a human being, it's not good. We are France, we are in the country of freedom. I think this is really very serious. For the stadium, we make no secret of it, the truth is that we have a new American investor Arctos and one of the conditions he wants is to be the owner of our stadium. Today if we really want to be competitive with other European clubs, we have to have our stadium. For me, the Parc des Princes is the best stadium in the world, there are no questions about that. But our supporters need bigger and closer to the pitch, a bit like in England. When we play, we want to have one of the best stadiums in the world and we want to invest."

Deputy mayor Belliard refuted Al-Khelaifi's comments, however, telling Le Parisien: "Calling me racist is defamation, and is not at the level of the issues of this important debate. We do not want the sale of the Parc des Princes to Qatar, or in any case the sale of the Parc des Princes... As a Parisian elected official, I will oppose any sale of the Park , whether to Qatar or other private interests."

PSG were said to have considered moving to national stadium Stade de France, though Le Parisien reported last week that they have abandoned such plans. With no deal over the Parc des Princes on the horizon, Al-Khelaifi and co may have to consider the more expensive option of building their own stadium.