Paris Saint-Germain Judo, commonly known as PSG Judo, is a French professional judo club based in the city of Paris in France. It is the judo department of parent club Paris Saint-Germain. Having already existed between 1992 and 2003, the section was refounded in 2017. Their home ground is the CMG Dojo, located inside the CMG One Italie sports complex. It houses the training facilities of the professional judokas but also the club's youth system, the Paris Saint-Germain Academy Judo.
First established in September 1992 on the initiative of former judoka Thierry Rey and with the financial support of then Paris Saint-Germain owners Canal+, PSG Judo was the first section of the club to win a continental trophy. Led by star judokas David Douillet, Cécile Nowak, Djamel Bouras and Frédéric Demontfaucon, the Parisian team clinched the Champions League in 1995 and the French 1st Division Senior Championships in 1997. After that, however, the club experienced a steep decline, leading to Canal+'s disengagement in 2002 before finally cutting ties all together with PSG in 2003 and continuing life as Paris Judo under new owners Lagardère Group.
Driven by Djamel Bouras, who was part of the section's original iteration, PSG Judo was officially refounded on September 1, 2017. Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi announced the news through a press release. He also confirmed the signing of French judoka star Teddy Riner as the figurehead of the project, while Djamel Bouras and Nicolas Mossion were appointed president and head coach, respectively. Initially a male-only project, PSG Judo ended up being a mixed-gender team.
Since their comeback, PSG's male and female teams have enjoyed domestic and European success. The men's outfit kicked off by claiming the French 2nd Division title in 2019. Then, both sides won the Europa League in 2021, as well as back-to-back French 1st Division Championships in 2022 and 2023, making PSG the first club to achieve the male-female double at national and international level. The female team also clinched the club's second Champions League title in 2023, PSG Judo becoming once again the first section of the club to win the competition. The junior teams have thrived as well, winning three National championships and one Regional title.
Since 2023, the club have implemented the Paris Saint-Germain Academy concept in the field of Judo.[3] Established in different countries, the Paris Saint-Germain Academy Judo is headquartered in the CMG Dojo.[1][2] The academy is open to all age categories and is managed by Nicolas Mossion.[3][4][5][6]
Campus PSG, located in Poissy, will be PSG Judo's new training ground and sports complex.[7][8][9] Owned and financed by parent club Paris Saint-Germain, the venue will bring together the male football, handball and judo teams and academies.[7][10] Each department will have its own dedicated facilities.[11] Construction began in February 2020 and is expected to end in June 2023.[12][13] The capital club will invest around €350m.[14]
History
Creation and inaugural season
After basketball and handball, Paris Saint-Germain and owners Canal+ set their sights on judo. Alliance 77, a club based in Lagny, was chosen to become PSG's judo section and Canal+ acquired it in September 1992. Created a year earlier after bringing together several Parisian clubs, Alliance 77 was the brainchild of its president Thierry Rey, a former judoka and 1980 Olympic champion turned judo consultant on Canal+.[15][16] Olympic gold medalist and world champion Cécile Nowak, Laurence Sionneau and Karine Petit joined the women's side, while French international judokas Nasser Néchar, Philippe Démarche and Bertrand Amoussou-Guenou were the big signings of the men's outfit.[16][17]
The recruitment was promising and it allowed PSG to be at the forefront of French judo during their inaugural 1993 season, in the company of Orléans. In February 1993, Rey and PSG organized the 22nd edition of the Grand Slam Paris at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin, welcoming the elite of world judo and fielding nine of the club's judokas.[16] The next step of the project was to sign a big name, and David Douillet, the greatest hope of French judo, was the obvious choice. Licensed to fellow Parisian club Maisons-Alfort, his arrival was formalized in October 1993. Douillet's impact was immediate, leading PSG to victory in a friendly tournament at Boulogne-Billancourt in November 1993.[16]
Champions League winners
The 1994 season began with a final challenge for Cécile Nowak. Aged 26, she decided to put an end to her career after the French team championships in Reims in January. The club's female side finished in third place, while the men's team were beaten by Orléans in the final. In March 1994, as part of president Thierry Rey's jubilee, PSG won the Capitals tournament ahead of German outfit Abensberg, confirming their continental ambitions.[17] The male squad, despite the absence of star David Douillet in the first two rounds, had a good run in the Champions League. Douillet's return for the semifinals against Berlin in Lagny didn't bode well, though; he was defeated for the first time in two and a half years as PSG crashed out of the competition.[17]
PSG opened the 1995 season with a new let-down at the French team championships in Tours in January. With both teams level in the final, the men's title slipped away from the capital club in the tie-breaking match as Nasser Néchar lost to Orléans' Laurent Calléja. The women suffered the same fate, falling to Levallois in the final. PSG turned their season around in November 1995, when the club's male team were crowned European champions in Germany. Following their success against hosts Abensberg in the semifinals, the Parisians defeated Ukrainian side Taifun Dnipro in the final and became the third French club to win the Champions League after Orléans and Racing. It was also PSG's first international title, all disciplines combined.[18]
The club's hangover from their continental triumph led to a disappointing 1996 season. David Douillet, not up to speed just yet, witnessed from the stands the men's loss to Racing in the semifinals of the French team championships in Lyon in January. The women went one better but fell to Levallois in the final. Weakened by long-term injury absentee Douillet, involved in a serious motorcycle accident, current holders PSG then failed to defend their European crown, finishing fourth behind Orléans in the final four organized by the club at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin.[19]
French champions
The ambitious signings of Djamel Bouras and Frédéric Demontfaucon, coupled with the return of David Douillet to training in January, seemed to herald a promising 1997 season. Victory at the Schaenbeek International Tournament in April confirmed these expectations. In October, after PSG's win over Dnepropetrovsk, Bouras tested positive for nandrolone, thus being ruled out for the Champions League final and risking three years of suspension. Douillet also had to forfeit because of pain in his left shoulder. Destabilized by these events, and missing their two stars, PSG narrowly lost the final to German team Abensberg. Granted a suspended sentence of four months to prepare his defense, Bouras was finally part of PSG's winning team at the French 1st Division Senior Championships. Having completely dominated AC Boulogne-Billancourt in the final, the Parisians secured their first national title.[20]
1998 saw a decline in fortune for the club, with an injury-riddled Douillet, Karine Petit's departure from a PSG women's side lacking in ambition, and the two-year suspension of Bouras in April by the doping commission of the French Judo Federation. Further, Jessy Euclid, one of the club's biggest young talents, passed away in a car accident in May at only 23 years old. A minute of silence was observed during PSG's victory against Romanian outfit Oradea in the Champions League. Some good news were a fourth-consecutive continental semifinal, despite the absence of Douillet due to a wrist injury, and the new-found facilities at L'Aquaboulevard de Paris, a dojo finally worthy of the club's standing. In November, following a successful appeal by Bouras, the Court of Arbitration for Sport allowed him to take part in the final four of the Champions League in Germany.[21]
With Douillet still injured, Bouras and PSG managed to oust Abendsberg, German hosts and three-time European champions in the last four seasons, but yielded in the final to Dutch side Kenamju Haarlem in a unfavorable atmosphere, the German public booing Bouras. For the French 1st Division Senior Championships, Bouras was once again at the centre of controversy. The club heavily relied on him since new recruits Franck Bellard and Karim Boumedjane were unavailable and Douillet was out through injury, but Bouras refused to fight claiming angina as the team finished third. Angered, president Thierry Rey even threatened to exclude him from the club. Demontfaucon, newly-crowned national champion at the French individual championships, was now the great hope of a PSG in need of stars, after the failed season of Bouras and Douillet.[21]
Rebirth of PSG Judo
Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi announced the relaunch of Paris Saint-Germain Judo, the club's judo department, on September 1, 2017.[22] The press release was accompanied by the presentation of French judoka Teddy Riner, who signed until 2022 to spearhead the project, and the appointment of Djamel Bouras as club president.[22][23] Nicolas Mossion, for his part, was named sporting director, academy director, coach and performance manager of PSG Judo.[4][6][24][25] Julien Boussuge and Laurent Calléja were also signed as coaches.[26][27]
Judo at the club is not new. The section existed already between 1992 and 2003, and boasted the likes of Olympic champions David Douillet and Djamel Bouras as well as a young Teddy Riner, who rose through the ranks of the Parisians.[1][15] This first iteration of PSG Judo shone on the domestic and continental tatami mats in the 1990s, with the men's team winning the Champions League in 1995 and the French 1st Division Senior Championships in 1997.[18][20][28]
At first, this new version of PSG Judo was supposed to be composed of a male-only team of judokas of all ages.[22] Teddy Riner was the club's sole judoka during its first year. The other judokas contacted to join him in the new Parisian project were not convinced by the proposed contractual conditions: one-year fixed-term contracts, accompanied by unattractive salaries (less than 4,000 euros a month). Walide Khyar (European −60 kg champion), Benjamin Axus (French −73 kg champion) or Pape Ndiaye (French −81 kg champion) notably declined the proposal.[29]
In consequence, PSG's initial male-only approach changed to a mixed-gender project.[29] Ahead of their 2018–19 redebut season, they signed several judokas, including female junior European champion Faïza Mokdar, to compete alongside multiple men's world champion Teddy Riner. The club also inaugurated its home ground, the CMG Dojo, located inside the CMG One Italie sports complex at Porte d'Italie in the 13th arrondissement of Paris.[1][2][5] PSG ended the campaign with the title at the French Junior Championships, courtesy of the club's junior male team.[26]
National and European doubles
Four more trophies followed in the 2019–20 season. First, the regional title at the Île-de-France Junior Championships by the women's junior side and, then, an unheard-of male-female double at the French Junior Championships.[30][31] Finally, the men's senior side celebrated the national title at the French 2nd Division Championships. It was PSG's first major trophy since 1997 as well as their first since their revival in 2017.[20][32] 2020–21 saw the arrivals of Marie-Ève Gahié,[33]Romane Dicko,[33]Alpha Oumar Djalo,[34] Luca Otmane,[35] and Amandine Buchard,[36] all of whom helped the male and female teams finish third at the French 1st Division Senior Championships.[37][38] The club also reinforced its coaching staff with Florent Urani.[39]
Ushered by Teddy Riner, together with newcomers Dicko, Buchard and Otmane, PSG returned to the European stage in 2021–22 and claimed an unprecedented double at the Europa League in December 2021.[28][38] It was the club's first continental participation since 1994, its first European titles since 1995 and its third such title overall.[17][28][38] PSG's men and women teams won their finals, respectively against Russian side UWS Yekaterinburg (5–0) and Swiss outfit SGS Sports (4–1), and hence clinched a spot in next year's Champions League.[40] Both sides repeated the feat on the national stage at the French 1st Division Senior Championships in May 2022.[41][42] Riner guided the men's squad to victory, while Gahié and Dicko made sure PSG became the first team to achieve the male-female double at the French nationals.[43][44]
Ahead of the 2022–23 campaign, PSG announced contract extensions for several of their key martial artists, including flagship judoka Teddy Riner (2024),[45] Romane Dicko (2025),[46] Marie-Ève Gahié (2024),[47] Alpha Oumar Djalo (2024),[48] Arnaud Aregba (2023),[49] Faïza Mokdar (2024),[50] and Luca Otmane (2024).[51] The club also renewed the contracts of young talents Mélanie Vieu, Martha Fawaz, Driss Masson-Jbilou, Eniel Caroly and Khamzat Saparbaev until 2023.[52]Alexis Mathieu joined the Parisian outfit as well, penning a two-season deal until 2024.[53]
Making the club's first Champions League appearance since 1994, the women's team led by 2022 World Champion Romane Dicko claimed the bronze medal after being defeated in the semifinals against future winners US Orléans Loiret JJ.[17][54] PSG's male side, meanwhile, finished in a disappointing seventh place.[54] Both teams, however, pulled together on the domestic scene to retain their respective titles at the French nationals in May 2023.[55][56]
Second Champions League title
After the signing of Belgian coach Damiano Martinuzzi, the capital club further strengthened its squad ahead of its second consecutive participation in the Champions League during the 2023–24 season.[25][57] In their quest for European glory, PSG's ambitious transfer policy remained unchanged. Proven champions Margaux Pinot, Walide Khyar, Luka Mkheidze and Aleksa Mitrovic joined in September 2023.[57] Same as Priscilla Gneto and Audrey Tcheuméo later that month.[58][59] Georgian trio Lasha Bekauri, Tato Grigalashvili and Lasha Shavdatuashvili followed suit in November, while British judoka Lucy Renshall was the last to arrive in December.[60][61] PSG also signed with Qatar Airways until September 2024, in what was the club's first-ever sponsorship deal.[62]
And the club's investment paid off.[63] The female team won the Champions League for the first time after defeating fellow French team JC Pontault Combault 3–0 in the final.[64] Gneto, Renshall and Marie-Ève Gahié secured the early victory, meaning Romane Dicko and Amandine Buchard didn't have to compete anymore.[65] It was the club's second Champions League title in judo, after that of the men's team in 1995, as well as the first such trophy for a PSG women's section and the first for any current PSG department.[63][64] The Parisians were also untouched on their way to the final, beating JC Bosna 3–0 in the quarterfinals and Galatasaray Judo 3–1 in the semifinals.[65] The male side also improved their result from last season, but couldn't get past home team OJK Belgrade in the semifinals. They managed, however, to snatch third place and the bronze medal against Georgian team Golden Gori.[63][66]
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