King Mohammed VI’s Secret Role in Reviving PSG Judo for Teddy Riner, Report Claims

The facts date back to 2017. The most titled judoka of all time, "Riner is about to find himself without a club with the prospect of the non-renewal of his contract with Levallois Sporting Club". Subsequently, Riner, who was about to sign with Orléans, was contacted by Paris Saint-Germain, which had just relaunched "PSG Judo" and offered to recruit him.

Mediapart’s investigations reveal that the judo section of PSG was created at the time, to hire Riner, "with a comfortable salary of 40,000 euros net per month, in disregard of any economic logic, following a contact from the King of Morocco Mohammed VI with the Emir of Qatar".

Mediapart also advances that Riner, freshly appointed "ambassador of Maroc Telecom" for Africa, has strived "to weigh with all his weight, notably thanks to his influence within the International Judo Federation (IJF) in his capacity as athlete representative on the executive committee, in order to lend a hand to the kingdom to allow it to "win the organization of six judo competitions in Morocco, including the world championships in all categories held in November 2017 in Marrakech".

Even if the judoka contests these allegations and denies any "exchange of favors", he nevertheless acknowledges having supported Morocco because he wants "to promote judo in Africa and the country had previously organized another successful competition". Moreover, Teddy Riner assures that his role as ambassador of Maroc Telecom as well as his hiring by PSG have no relation with his friendship for King Mohammed VI.