BERLIN, June 24 (dpa/EP) –
The president of Paris Saint-Germain, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, has been acquitted this Friday for the second time by a Swiss federal court of charges of corruption in the allocation of television rights to the World Cup.
Al-Khelaifi had been accused of inciting former FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke to commit aggravated criminal mismanagement. Valcke was accused of wanting to transfer Middle East and North African television rights for the 2026 and 2030 World Cups to a media company headed by Al-Khelaifi.
Al-Khelaifi allegedly offered Valcke, who is serving a 10-year ban from world football by the FIFA Ethics Committee in 2018, the exclusive use of a luxury villa in Sardinia, Italy, in exchange. .
The president of PSG has been acquitted again of a charge of incitement to commit aggravated criminal management. It is the second time Al-Khelaifi has been acquitted of wrongdoing in Swiss federal criminal court after prosecutors appealed the original verdicts.
“Years of unsubstantiated accusations, trumped-up charges and constant slander have been shown to be totally and completely unfounded, twice,” al-Khelaifi’s lawyer, Marc Bonnant, said in a statement.
Valcke was convicted on separate charges that do not involve Al-Khelaifi. He was sentenced to 11 months and must also pay FIFA €1.75 million for forgery and passive corruption, by taking advantage of his privileged position to influence the granting of broadcasting rights for Italy and Greece for various World Cups and other tournaments scheduled between 2018 and 2030, in exchange for payments from Greek businessman Dinos Deris, who has also been charged. The Frenchman was acquitted of the most serious charges of accepting bribes and aggravated criminal mismanagement.