Vive la revolution as French join the power elite

In the long run-up to their World Cup, the Qatari royal family, or their representatives, are now set to be active in the European transfer market as PSG, who finished fourth in Ligue 1 last season and failed to qualify for the UEFA Champions League, set out on a quest to join the power elite of the European club game.

PSG are set to pull off one of the transfer coups of the summer by bringing the Argentina midfielder Javier Pastore from Palermo to Paris. He had been expected to sign for Chelsea but it seems that not even Roman Abramovich can now compete with the limitless funds of a gas-and oil-rich Gulf state.

Like the oil sheikhs of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the Qatari royals understand how sport has become one of the supreme instruments of soft power. They know if you build the stadia and five (or is it seven?) star hotels, and spend whatever is necessary, the world will come to the deserts of the Persian Gulf, even if it means playing football in summer temperatures approaching 50 degrees. (But, hey, the stadia will be air-conditioned!)

It has been an open secret that the Qataris have been looking to buy one of the worlds's top football clubs, preferably one in the English Premier League. They were thought to be interested in Tottenham and Liverpool. In the event, they have moved across the Channel to capture a 70 per cent controlling stake in PSG, a club located in one of the great metropolises but playing in what is probably the fifth-ranked league in Europe - only one French side have won the European Cup/Champions League, Marseilles in 1993, then owned by the now-disgraced Bernard Tapie, who was convicted of match-fixing.

Yet the capture of PSG could turn out to be a very smart investment, especially as the Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera already owns the international rights for Ligue 1 matches and, since June, together with Canal Plus, has also bought a share of the domestic rights. The opportunities for cross-media subsidy and for promotion seem boundless.

PSG have been in relative decline since the mid-to-late nineties when Lyon emerged, for a long period, as the dominant club in France. But all that is set to change. Like Manchester City, in effect owned by Abu Dhabi, PSG have a large and loyal fanbase, including many Francophone Arabs living in Paris. Like City, they should very quickly be able to buy themselves a place at the Champions League top table, from where, depending on how much the Qataris spend, anything should be possible.

For too long French clubs have underachieved in Europe, when you consider the successes of the national team and how many first-rate French and African players emerge from Ligue 1. This is partly because their best and brightest stars are invariably sold to England, Spain and Italy.

Last season, unfancied Lille became champions for the first time since 1954 but have since spent the summer fending off bids for their players, not always successfully - Arsenal, for instance, signed the Ivorian striker, Gervinho.

The takeover of leading European clubs by nation, or pseudo-nation, states is the next phase in the globalisation of football that must surely before too long result in the creation of a European super league - or, at the very least, in a new multinational breakaway competition to rival the Champions League.

Last week in a bold and calculated intervention, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, chief executive of Bayern Munich and chairman of the European Club Association, denounced the opaque operations of UEFA and FIFA and warned of a club-led revolution to come. He complained of corruption at FIFA and of how sprawling and bloated the European Championship and World Cup have become (the Euros, once a small jewel of a competition, will expand to 24 finalists in 2016).

The clubs resent having to lend their players to national associations only to have them returned injured or fatigued. They resent the unaccountability of FIFA and the machinations of the megalomaniacal Sepp Blatter. And they know, too, that the direction of history is on their side.

"It's a money machine, World Cup after World Cup, and that's more important than serious and clean governance as far as they are concerned," Rummenigge said.

"I will give them a chance [to clean up] but I'm ready for a revolution."

It will be upon us soon enough - and football will never be the same again.

Hollywood will have to wait for now, Tom

For someone who spends so much of his time in public in tight trunks, Tom Daley seems a well-adjusted and personable young fellow, even if he does come across as if he's auditioning for the starring role in the remake of the Hollywood film adaptation of the John Cheever story, The Swimmer.

The original starred a sun-tanned Burt Lancaster, in one of his most demanding roles - and yes, he had to dive into multiple swimming pools.

Daley has the requisite tan of an authentic diving champion - and the good sense to seek to cash in on his popularity. In the absence of a track and field star of genuine world renowned - Jessica Ennis is admirable but competes in a minor event - and with Sir Chris Hoy having performed the role at the closing ceremony in Beijing, Daley could well emerge as the lead contender to carry the British flag at the opening ceremony of the London Olympics.

The question asked of him is this: is he over-hyped or a superb level-headed talent? The answer, I think, is a bit of both - yes, he's an exceptional technician and yes, he is becoming over-exposed and over-promoted.

My advice would be for him to do a little less media and promotional work and more diving. There will be time enough for him to profit hugely, if and when he wins gold in London.

Jason Cowley is editor of the New Statesman