PSG owners buy minority stake in Portuguese club SC Braga

Qatar Sports Investment, which owns PSG in France, purchased a minority stake in Portuguese club SC Braga. The move comes amid frequent discussion of clubs branching out into other countries.

Qatar Sports Investment, also known as simply QSI, purchased 21.67% of SC Braga. There is no announcement on a fee that QSI paid to Braga for the minority share in the club.

QSI, with chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi, took over Paris Saint Germain in 2011. In turn, Al-Khelaifi became PSG’s president and CEO. Following his takeover, PSG rattled off eight Ligue Un titles in the 11 years of his ownership. Also, PSG picked up six Coupe de France wins in that tenure.

The main note of QSI’s ownership of PSG is bringing the biggest names in the sport to the club for high fees. The club set the transfer fee record in 2017 when it acquired Neymar from Barcelona. That same year, it announced the second-highest transfer fee for Kylian Mbappé. However, Mbappé’s did not kick in until 2018, skirting around UEFA’s financial fair play policies. Those two players cost the club over $400 million combined.

PSG owners place minority stake in Portuguese side Braga

Now, the PSG owners branch out into Portugal via a minority stake in SC Braga. Braga is in a similar position to PSG when QSI took it over in 2011. The club is not as successful or popular as rivals Porto, Sporting or Benfica. Despite lacking the hardware of those clubs, Braga has recent success. It lost in the Europa League Final to Porto back in 2011. In the last 19 seasons, Braga finished top five all but twice. Consequently, the club is a mainstay in the Europa League, seven-consecutive seasons, including 2022/23.

PSG ownership shows a commitment to expand with this minority stake in Braga. Other clubs with heavy investment, including the Red Bull Group or City Football Group, have clubs across the world.

In fact, new Chelsea owner Todd Boehly expressed his desire to create a similar scheme with the Stamford Bridge side. He sought out any possibility to reach into Portugal, just like QSI.

Braga currently sits in third in the Primeira Liga table, and second in its Europa League group. The club’s next game is against group leaders from Belgium Royale Union Saint-Gilloise on Thursday afternoon.

PHOTO: IMAGO / GEPA pictures