PSG investigated for press pressure and Messi's Ballon d'Or

Although Paris Saint-Germain was already in the legal spotlight for the tax operations that may have left irregularities in 2017 for the signing of Neymar, PSG has returned to the centre of the debate after 'Mediapart', which already provided evidence of these investigations, has now underlined that part of the study of Jean-Martial Ribes, the main implicated party, also implicates Pascal Ferre and PSG for an alleged influence that he would have had on an important part of the French press.

It all starts with the figure of Pascal Ferre. He is a French journalist who was editor-in-chief of 'France Football', a very important French newspaper and organiser of the Ballon d'Or. Now, he is part of the communication department of Paris Saint-Germain. And it is there where he studies what happened before he arrived at the present time.

Mediapart' reveals certain behaviours which, although still under investigation, point directly at the Parisian team. It focuses mainly on this possible influence, beyond the norm, on the press, in particular on France Football, which at the time had Ferre in charge of the sports section.

There is also talk of a trip, allegedly financed by Qatar, for Ferre to write two articles a few days later on the luxury of the country's stadiums in preparation for the World Cup.

Beyond this direct connection with the press, the investigation also touches on the pressure, for now nothing more than legal, on the Ballon d'Or. It speaks of "favours" from Ribes to Ferre, such as tickets to football matches (like a PSG-Borussia Dortmund match behind closed doors) or those trips to Qatar. In addition, there is open talk of this possible influence, which for now does not go beyond this favourable treatment, on the 2021