Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the journey from a poor fishing village to PSG owner

TPO - Luis Enrique and PSG's young players are the main characters in the journey to the top of Europe. However, President Al-Khelaifi is the architect of that great achievement.

Many years ago, far from the coast of Qatar, a boat was stuck in the middle of the ocean. A rope was wrapped around the propeller, making it unable to move. The people on board had no way to free it and were left to their fate.

When the food began to run out, they were forced to dive to catch fish. Nasser, a 5-year-old boy who could not swim yet, wanted to go down. A rope was tied to his leg and he was lowered. After 3 days, all of their lips were chapped and their skin was blistered, a boat happened to pass by and they were rescued.

Children’s memories are short, but Nasser never forgot the moment the lifeboat appeared out of the fog. “It was the best day of my life, because I and everyone else thought we were going to die,” Nasser recalled. On land, Nasser’s mother was already dressed in black. Fortunately, everyone returned.

Nasser Al-Khelaifi sits next to Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani during the Qatar ExxonMobil Open tennis final.

The Journey of a Lesser-Known Tennis Player

In the early 1970s, when Nasser was born, oil had not yet transformed Qatar, and most people lived off the resources of the sea. Their boats were their homes, and the sea was their life. Nasser’s grandfather Abdallah was the leader of a group of fishermen in Doha who set the dates and locations for pearl-hunting trips. Each trip lasted about three or four months, and when they returned, traders were waiting on shore to buy them.

Things got worse when the Japanese arrived. The market was suddenly flooded with cultured pearls. The Al-Khelaifis were forced to think differently. They headed inland. The extended family moved into a house opposite Al-Arabi, Doha’s only tennis club.

Nasser started school and worked as a ball boy at the Tennis Club. One day, an American coach wanted to start a tennis class for local kids. Nasser and his younger brother Khaled signed up. But while Khaled was only a passing talent, Nasser practiced passionately two or three times a day. He wanted to be known not only as the best player in Qatar, but also as the number one player in the world .

Nasser Al-Khelaifi on the tennis court.

Because of that ambition, Nasser immersed himself in tennis in a way that others looked at him as a crazy guy. Nasser initially succeeded in becoming the first professional tennis player in Qatar. He studied economics at Qatar University and then worked in the urban planning department of Doha city, but all the money he saved was thrown into the tournaments he would participate in around the world.

In 1998, in Toulon, France, to save money, Nasser rented the worst room. It was a bad decision because the room was so infested with rats and cockroaches that Nasser had to sleep in his car that night. The next morning, Nasser's neck was stiff, leading to a loss on the tennis court. A friend said that Nasser often slept in his car in the park, because he had to save every penny for the long trip.

Of course, Nasser had to manage everything on his own, even when injured. One time he went on the court with an ankle swollen to the size of a soccer ball. He was determined not to give up because he needed only three points to qualify for the tournament in the United States. But then his leg said no. Nasser was forced to put down his racket.

Quite understandably, under such conditions, Nasser never rose above the world ranking of 995. In his entire career, the tennis money brought him 16,201 euros, not enough to cover all the expenses during those years. One of the rare things Nasser bought for himself with his tennis money was a PSG shirt. He bought it on the Champs-Élysées in 1999, when he participated in a tournament in Paris.

Nasser Al-Khelaifi became PSG President when QSI bought the French capital team for just 50 million euros in 2011.

However, Nasser had no regrets, because tennis had helped him and the entire Al-Khelaifi family change their lives completely. The turning point came in 1988, when Nasser was 14 years old and had been learning tennis for 3 years. At the same time, the Prince of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, developed a passion for tennis and wanted to become a star like Boris Becker. Although he was coached by the legendary German player, Tamim needed a partner to play with. People came to the Tennis Club and chose Nasser.

Nasser is six years older than Tamim, but that did not stop them from becoming close. The two trained together and played together in tournaments in Doha and on the national team. In 2003, after his elder brother refused to inherit the throne, Tamim became Crown Prince of Qatar, and ascended to the throne in 2013.

A sportsman by trade, Tamim saw sports as central to his international rise, transforming Qatar into a global brand. Fellow player Nasser Al-Khelaifi was appointed president of the Qatar Tennis Federation and vice president of the Asian Confederation. Later, when the Royal Family established the Qatar Investment Authority to diversify its investments, Al-Khelaifi was one of its key leaders.

Over the past 15 years, PSG has become the dominant force in France and is among the biggest clubs in the world.

...to the powerful boss who dreams of dominating Europe

In 2011, Qatar Sports Investments was born and bought PSG, Al-Khelaifi became the Chairman of both the investment fund and the club, then started a huge revolution in Paris. From a team that only won the French championship twice, PSG became an absolute dominant force. In the last 13 seasons, they won Ligue 1 11 times. In addition, there are 25 other domestic titles. After 15 years, PSG's value has also increased to 3.8 billion euros according to Forbes' valuation.

Of course, money is a key factor in changing PSG’s fortunes. QSI has spent 2.3 billion euros in the past decade and a half on transfers alone. “The players I want, I will get,” Al-Khelaifi replied when asked about PSG’s spending power. During their heyday, Les Parisiens brought top superstars to the Parc des Princes, from Zlatan Ibrahimovic, David Beckham, Neymar to Kylian Mbappe, Sergio Ramos and Lionel Messi.

"I want to build a global brand," Al-Khelaifi told The Athletic about why QSI bought PSG. "We want to build a football club with the best facilities in the world and a fan base all over the planet. And of course, we want to win everything."

Winning the Champions League has been PSG's goal since the early days of Nasser Al-Khelaifi's reign.

Speaking of trophies, at club level, winning the Champions League is the final frontier before moving on to greatness. After many years of tireless pursuit with a series of short-term and long-term policies, Al-Khelaifi and PSG finally reached the dream.

Luis Enrique and his young squad, with Willian Pacho, Vitinha, Desire Doue, then Oussama Dembele and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, were the main characters in PSG's journey to the top of Europe. However, Al-Khelaifi was the architect of that great achievement.

The PSG president had the courage to acknowledge the mistakes of the glamorous period, then made a transformation, building PSG with fundamental values. They pushed the biggest stars away, bought potential players and gave opportunities to talent from the Academy. Al-Khelaifi also gave up the goal of winning the Champions League immediately, to reduce the pressure on the club. He was willing to wait, and happily enjoyed the performances instead of focusing on the results.

Surprisingly, the rewards for this new approach were immediate. Luis Enrique, who Al-Khelaifi had placed his trust in, produced a brand of football that was both attractive and effective. PSG 2024/25 was the club’s best ever, then swept all obstacles in all three stages of Ligue 1, Coupe de France and Champions League.

PSG President's happy moment with the dream Cup.

On completing the treble in Munich, Al-Khelaifi tried to hold back tears and said, "this is the best day for me and PSG", while affirming "we are building a team for the future. The ambitions only really start today and the coming days will have a lot of work to do".

Al-Khelaifi has always had great ambitions and never allowed himself to be idle. In addition to his work at PSG, he has also risen very quickly on the international stage. The PSG President became the first Arab to hold a position at UEFA (on the Executive Committee), then President of the European Club Association.

Al-Khelaifi is now one of the most influential voices in European football's corridors of power, having become a hero alongside UEFA in the fight against the Super League. Le Figaro called Al-Khelaifi the "Robin Hood of European football" while UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin praised Al-Khelaifi as "a man of integrity".

In Qatar, Al-Khelaifi is more than a hero. “Nasser was the country’s number one ambassador and was revered for making the small country of Qatar known to the world,” said Al-Fardan, a powerful businessman in Qatar. With fame comes money, of course.

Al-Khelaifi is now worth $16 billion, and his large family of unemployed fishermen live in a luxury mansion in Doha. In their spare time, they go out to sea on their multi-million-euro yachts, reminiscing about the distant past when they almost died at sea.

Qinghai

Source: https://tienphong.vn/nasser-al-khelaifi-hanh-trinh-tu-lang-chai-ngheo-kho-den-ong-chu-psg-post1747593.tpo