Nasser Al-Khelaïfi was once again acquitted by Swiss justice on Friday. The president of PSG and BeIn Media Group appeared on appeal last March in a corruption case on the sale of TV rights for the 2026 and 2030 World Cups. The prosecution had requested 28 months in prison against the Parisian leader. He finally got away with it without prosecution, as was the case during his trial at first instance in October 2020.
“The verdict is totally justified, welcomed Marc Bonnant, Swiss lawyer representing Al-Khelaïfi. After a relentless six-year campaign by the prosecution – each time ignoring basic facts and the law – our client has, once again, been fully and completely cleared. Years of baseless allegations, fictitious accusations and relentless slander have been proven completely and utterly unfounded – twice. »
Valcke sentenced to 11 months suspended prison sentence
The other two defendants in this case were, however, convicted. Jérôme Valcke, former number 2 of Fifa, thus received an 11-month suspended prison sentence and a fine. The prosecution had requested 35 months in prison against the French. The third defendant, the Greek Konstantinos Nteris, received a ten-month suspended prison sentence. Recall that Nasser Al-Khelaïfi and Jérôme Valcke were prosecuted for “aggravated unfair management instigation” in the context of a procedure opened in 2017 by the Public Prosecutor of the Swiss Confederation (MPC) for the granting of television rights for the Coupes du football world 2026 and 2030 on the Qatari channel BeIN Sports.
The MPC suspected Valcke of having received from Al-Khelaïfi benefits estimated between 1.4 million and 2.3 million euros, namely “the exclusive use of the villa Bianca” (located in Sardinia) from March 2014 to September 2015, as well as a reimbursement of 500,000 euros after payment of a deposit for the villa in question.