PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi charged in connection with BRIBING former FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke
- Swiss Attorney’s Office has brought charges on PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi
- Valcke has in turn been charged with accepting bribes for World Cup TV rights
- Al-Khelaifi is chairman of beIN Media Group and on UEFA executive committee
- In his role as chairman of Qatar Sports Investments, he oversees matters at PSG
PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has been charged in connection with bribing the former FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke.
Valcke has also been charged with accepting bribes over World Cup television rights.
Al-Khelaifi, who is the chairman of beIN Media Group and also on the UEFA executive committee, has however had charges of bribery in connection with the 2026 and 2030 World Cup dropped.
PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has been charged in connection with bribing FIFA
Jerome Valcke has also been charged with accepting bribes over World Cup television rights
A press release from the Swiss Attorney General’s office read: ‘The OAG has charged Valcke with accepting bribes, several counts of aggravated criminal mismanagement and falsification of documents.
‘The facts in this indictment are no longer characterised as fraud. Al-Khelaifi and the third accused are charged with indicting Valcke to commit aggravated criminal mismanagement. The third accused is also charged with bribery.’
In response, Al-Khelafi released a statement saying he expects to be cleared of the charge, in the same way the 2026 and 2030 World Cup bribery links have been dropped.
‘While a secondary technical charge remains outstanding, I have every expectation that this will be proven completely groundless and without any substance whatsoever,’ Al-Khelafi said.
‘After an exhaustive three-year investigation, where I have fully and openly cooperated with the Public Prosecutor in Switzerland, I am pleased that all charges of bribery in connection with the 2026 and 2030 World Cups have been dropped.
‘As I have said vehemently and repeatedly for three years, the charges have not – and have never had – any basis whatsoever, either in fact or law. It is now – finally – indisputable fact that the 2026 and 2030 agreements were negotiated at arms-lengths and without any improper influence in any form.
Al-Khelafi, plays a prominent role at PSG and helped bring in Neymar in 2017 for £199million
‘After the most forensic public, private, lawful and unlawful scrutiny of all my dealings, I have been cleared of all suspicions of bribery and the case has been dismissed definitively and conclusively.’
He also said in the statement he has requested the relevant Swiss authorities to ‘open a criminal enquiry into the conduct of the investigation’, amid the ‘three year investigation being characterised by constant leaks and misinformation.’
Valcke was banned from football for 12 years back in 2016 after being found guilty of misconduct over the sale of World Cup tickets, abuse of travel expenses, attempting to sell TV rights below their market value and destruction of evidence.
He was the right hand man to disgraced former FIFA president Sepp Blatter for eight years.
Valcke was right-hand man to disgraced former FIFA president Sepp Blatter for eight years
Qatari executive Al-Khelafi, 46, has been the man at the helm at the Parc des Princes since the takeover of the club in 2011.
Since then, he has sanctioned a world record £199m deal for Neymar in 2017, and brought in French superstar Kylian Mbappe a year later.
He is in charge due to his overarching role as chairman of Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), but despite £800m being spent in eight years, the club still have not gone beyond the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
This year may well finish in a similar vein too – the Parisians lost 2-1 at Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday in their last-16 first-leg.
