Swiss prosecutors grill PSG boss in WCup probe
Print Edition
SWISS prosecutors grilled Paris Saint-Germain president and beIN Media chief Nasser al-Khelaifi yesterday over allegations that he obtained World Cup media rights by bribing a top FIFA executive.
Al-Khelaifi, a Qatari with close ties to the Gulf state’s royal family, is under investigation for allegedly striking illegal deals with disgraced former FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke, who had been Sepp Blatter’s right-hand man.
“The interrogation will take a long time due to translation issues but also the quality of the questions and complexity of the issues at stake,” said Swiss attorney general (OAG) spokesman Andre Marty.
“One needs to be quite patient with the ongoing criminal proceedings,” he told reporters.
Marty said there was “a good chance it might not finish today” and that al-Khelaifi’s lawyers and Swiss prosecutors may have to mutually agree to another hearing in the coming weeks.
Al-Khelaifi, 43, and his legal team arrived at the OAG headquarters in Bern at about 9:30am, avoiding the main entrance. They were not seen by the roughly two dozen reporters gathered outside.
Al-Khelaifi and Valcke have been under investigation since March in connection with media rights for the 2026 and 2030 World Cups on allegations, including corruption, bribery, criminal mismanagement and forgery of a document.
Authorities in France, Greece, Italy and Spain have cooperated with the Swiss probe, including by raiding properties.
But the OAG only went public with the case on October 12.
Al-Khelaifi’s high-profile French lawyer, Francis Szpiner, then swiftly announced that his sports tycoon client “denies any corruption” and “wanted to be heard as soon as possible” by Swiss prosecutors.
OAG spokesman Marty told reporters there was “a good dozen” lawyers in the room yesterday, “from all parties involved”, in addition to two representatives of the Swiss attorney general.
It is highly likely that FIFA lawyers were present, since the integrity of contracts signed by Valcke on behalf of world football’s governing body is a central question in the case.
The beIN Media group, which is headquartered in Doha, has insisted that its World Cup rights deals were “advantageous for FIFA”, rejecting any suggestion that it got favorable treatment.
The contract covers broadcasting rights for the MENA (Middle East, North Africa) region for the tournaments.
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