Offers for the proposed use of the Stade de France after Paris 2024 are due to be submitted in January next year ©Getty Images

Proposals for the purchase or operation of the Stade de France after Paris 2024 are due to be submitted in January next year, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, the French Minister of Sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, has declared.

Speaking in the Senate, Oudéa-Castéra added that the candidates admitted to the consultation phase will submit their offers ahead of a decision on the future of the Stade de France which will be taken "at the end of 2024", as reported by Le Monde.

With the current concession contract for the Stade de France due to end in July 2025 the Government called in March this year for tenders from potential buyers of the site in Seine-Saint-Denis, northern Paris, and also to companies interested in a concession for the operation of this stadium, which has hosted sporting and cultural events since 1998.

In presenting the draft sports budget for 2024 to the Senators of the Committee on Culture, Education and Communication, Oudéa-Castéra said the Government was proceeding in this matter with "two principles."

The first was to preserve the sporting use of the stadium and the second to maintain the economic and financial interests of the State.

Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, the French Minister of Sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, has told the Senate that initial proposals over the post-Paris 2024 use of the Stade de France will be invited in January next year ©Getty Images
Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, the French Minister of Sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, has told the Senate that initial proposals over the post-Paris 2024 use of the Stade de France will be invited in January next year ©Getty Images

"The consultation file set a certain number of criteria, in particular a criterion of overall economic benefit for the State of one or the other formula, as well as a criterion relating to the improvement of the quality of reception and the attractiveness of the stadium in its territory in Seine-Saint-Denis," the Minister said.

She added that once the offers were submitted, in January discussions would continue "throughout the year 2024."

Oudéa-Castéra did not mention the number of candidates interested in one or the other of the two proposed options, nor their identities. .

One of the interested parties, however, appears to be the Qatari fund Qatar Sports Investments, which owns the Paris St Germain football club and is currently in conflict with Paris City Hall over the Parc des Princes venue.

In July, L'Equipe reported that two groups had been selected in this first phase of consultation: a French group interested in the takeover and another led by the company GL Events with Paris Entertainment Company.

The French Football Federation (FFF) and French Rugby Federation may enter the proceedings at a second stage.

The new President of the FFF, Philippe Diallo, said in April: "There is no viable solution without the two major football and rugby federations registering in one way or another in these projects."