The revenues of Ligue 1 side Paris St. Germain, the French club whose prospects have been transformed since Qatar Sports Investments took control three years ago, "exceeded those of its smallest Ligue 1 rival by a factor of 20" in the '12-13 season, according to David Owen of INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL. Excluding transfers, the French champions reported revenue of €399.6M ($553M) for the period, compared with just €19.7M ($27.2M) for AC Ajaccio, "the Corsican club with the smallest turnover of the 20 then in the league." The figures illustrate just how polarized "the finances in the top tier of French football have become." By comparison, revenue generated in '11-12 by the biggest club in the EPL, ManU, "amounted to about six times the corresponding figure for the smallest club, Wigan Athletic." Further "emphasizing the financial chasm between PSG and its league rivals," only two other clubs -- Marseille and Lyon -- had revenues that exceeded even €100M ($139M). Average turnover for the other 19 teams in Ligue 1 totaled just over €47M ($65M) -- "less than one-eighth of PSG's revenue" (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 4/28).
