Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the president of PSG, has been exonerated of corruption by a Swiss appeals court.
Despite being found guilty of receiving bribes and fabricating papers in a different instance, former Fifa Secretary General Jerome Valcke was also exonerated of the same accusation.
61-year-old Valcke received a suspended 11-month prison term and a 20,000 Swiss francs ($17,000) fine.
Swiss prosecutors appealed the Swiss Federal Criminal Court decision from October 2020.
The accusations were related to World Cup TV rights while Valcke served as the organization’s general secretary.
Al-Khelaifi was found not guilty of inciting Valcke to commit aggravated criminal mismanagement, and the appeals court affirmed that judgment in a written decision made public on Friday.
Note that Al-Khelaifi serves as the chairman of the European Club Association and a member of Uefa’s executive committee.
Prosecutors asserted during a hearing in March that Valcke took rent-free housing in an Italian home bought by Al-Khelaifi, the head of the BeIN media group, in return for TV rights.
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The 48-year-old Al-Khelaifi asserted throughout his testimony that he had not engaged in a “corrupt agreement” with Valcke, claiming, “That is entirely false.” It’s a bogus accusation.
The appeals court agreed that Valcke had received “undue advantages” from Al-Khelaifi, but found that Fifa would not have been able to obtain a better contract than the one it already had with BeIN, therefore those advantages had no financial impact on Fifa.
Al-Swiss Khelaifi’s attorney Marc Bonnant declared that the verdict was “completely vindicated” today. Our client has been entirely and completely cleared for the second time following a persistent six-year prosecution campaign that disregarded both fundamental facts and the law at every point.
Years of unfounded accusations, false accusations, and persistent smears have been shown to be entirely unfounded twice.
Additionally, the charge of aggravating dishonest management was rejected against Valcke, who worked for Fifa from 2007 to 2015 and is presently serving a 10-year suspension from football.
He was, however, proven to have forged documents and accepted many payments in exchange for Italian and Greek media rights.
Nasser Al-Khelaifi, PSG President
The chairman of beIN Media Group, the head of Qatar Sports Investments, the president of Paris Saint-Germain and the Qatar Tennis Federation, and the vice president of the Asian Tennis Federation for West Asia is Qatari businessman Nasser bin Ghanim Al-Khelaifi (born on November 12, 1973).
President and CEO of the French soccer team Paris Saint-Germain is Al-Khelaifi. Additionally, he is on the FIFA Club World Cup organizing committee and was chosen to lead the European Club Association (ECA).
He has a good relationship with Sheikh Tamim, the Emir and head of Qatar Investment Authority, a sovereign wealth fund.
He is married and resides in Qatar with his four children.
