"The dimension of Rai goes well beyond the framework of football," said Mr. Ferracci to AFP, confirming information from the newspaper L'Equipe.

"We made a capital increase of 8 million euros, it is the fourth since I have been at the head of this club, and most of the minority shareholders have followed. I retain the majority", specified the one who has been leading the Ile-de-France club since 2012.

The company Sport Bridges Venture (SBV), in which Rai is located, will provide more than 3 million euros as part of this capital increase.

"There will be a larger budget for recruitment, but also for infrastructure and the women's D1 team that will play in the Champions League," said President Ferracci.

Rai, world champion in 1994 with Brazil and now based in France, was captain of PSG champion of France in 1994 and winner of the Coupe des Coupes in 1996. Holder of dual Brazilian and French nationality, he resigned in February 2021 from his position as sports director of FC Sao Paulo after the dismissal of the coach.

The former captain of the seleçao, whose name is closely associated with PSG, confirmed on Tuesday his entry into the capital of Paris FC but wanted to "send a message to the fans" of Paris SG.

Place for a 2nd club in Paris

"Without them, I wouldn't be who I am and today I couldn't commit to a new challenge around football in our capital. I want this story to continue between us (...)", a- he writes on Instagram, to avoid any misunderstandings with PSG supporters.

One of the Franco-American investors in SBV is Pascal Rigo, a baker who made his fortune in the United States: "We invest in a club to try to help it. We want families to want to go there. go. We want the best possible experience when we are going to spend two hours at the stadium," he told AFP.

"We are long-term investors, we don't have an obligation to return on investment, to exit in five or seven years. It's a more traditional way of investing for the long term, not an investment of opportunity," Mr. Rigo added.

Former PSG captain Raimundo Souza Vieira de Oliveira, known as Rai, in an operation to represent his former club on November 27, 2021 in Rwanda Simon WOHLFAHRT AFP / Archives

Paris FC again played the pre-accession play-offs in Ligue 1 in May, but their hopes of a rise were dashed against Sochaux, who won 2-1 at the Charléty stadium.

"We've been playing the play-offs for three out of four years, I really want to finally take this step. AJ Auxerre took ten years to come back up and next year there will only be two promoted clubs" , underlined Mr. Ferracci, convinced that there is "the place for a second Ligue 1 club in Paris, as in all the big cities of Europe".

The women's section of the PFC finished third in the last D1 championship, which gives them a ticket to the first qualifying round of the Women's Champions League 2022-2023.

They will face Swiss club Servette FC Chênois on August 18.

© 2022 AFP