Chairman of the French
sports club, Paris Saint-Germain, and the Qatari sports channels, beIN Sports, Nasser
al-Khelaifi, will stand trial in Switzerland on Monday, according to media
reports.
Al-Khelaifi's long-awaited
trial comes against the background of corruption charges in connection with the
international governing body of football, FIFA, and the broadcast rights of the
FIFA World Cups 2026 and 2030.
He is reported to have used
a villa in the Italian Mediterranean island of Sardinia to achieve his goals in
this regard.
Al-Khelaifi is also accused
of inciting Jérôme Valcke, the former secretary-general of FIFA, into
corruption and mismanagement.
The Swiss prosecution
accuses al-Khelaifi of allowing Valcke to use the villa for free, even as he
should have paid him 1.8 million Euros in rent.
Valcke used the villa for
three years, a time when he oversaw the dubious broadcast deals of the
international football governing body. He is reported to have allowed beIN
Sports to have the broadcast rights of the World Cups 2026 and 2030 in the
Middle East.
In February this year, the prosecution
accused Valcke of mismanagement, the fabrication of documents and the lack of
integrity.
Valcke, 59, is scheduled to
stand trial at the Federal Swiss Court next week. Hearings are expected to last
for eight days. He and al-Khelaifi deny the charges leveled against them.
The British newspaper, The
Times, revealed in February this year that al-Khelaifi had agreed to pay money
for FIFA, around 1 million Swiss francs, in return for dropping bribery charges
against him.
The Qatar Sports
Investments, a closed shareholding organization founded in 2005, is located at
the center of the Qatari capital Doha.
The organization is viewed
as the world's largest spoiling the international sports scene.
It works to better the image
of the Qatari regime and also win broadcast rights by hook and by crook.
