(You gave plenty of context, thanks. However, it's always helpful to link to a source when possible, in this case https://tinyurl.com/yy69ontl ) This isn't a straight news story. The writer is trying to be entertaining, colorful, and witty. The point of the story seems to be that Paris St. Germain football team may be hated for the unfair advantage it has due to its money, but that, even so, they deserve to be loved for how well they have been playing lately. The "Illuminati" were a secret society in the 1700s. For some reason, conspiracy theorists discovered them a couple of decades ago. Conspiracy theorists often suggest that secret societies are controlling world events. Sometimes they suggest that the group literally is the Illuminati, or a new group with the same name. There is often an idea that the Illuminati is composed of very rich, powerful people. So, "Illuminati" can be used in a joking or sarcastic way, to mean a group of wealthy people who are imagined to be a secret society, controlling events. Person A: "The political system is being driven by super-rich partisans buying advertising." Person B (sarcastic): "Yeah, right, it's all controlled by the Illuminati." (I.e. "That is a silly conspiracy theory.") This writer says Paris St. Germain team is the plaything of rich people. It wins a lot because its money gives them an unfair advantage. I don't see a parallel between this and a secret conspiracy. I think the parallel has to do with the feelings of those that hate the team. A conspiracy theorist might have a deep, vitriolic hatred for some imagined evil secret society. The writer thinks some fans hate the team the same way a conspiracy theorist might hate the Illuminati.

Usually nowadays it is used in conspiracy literature to mean a secret society which aims to control the entire world, or perhaps already does. I don't really see how it fits here, other than as a metaphor for how the rich abuse their power to achieve world domination. The article is not of high quality - France is not per capita the wealthiest country, it isn't even in the top 20, undermining the entire argument.