BELLINZONA: Markus Kattner, former finance director of FIFA, denied in court all knowledge of the details surrounding the controversial sale of 2026 and 2030 World Cup regional television rights to Qatar’s beIN Media.

Kattner, who was sacked by the world football federation for absue of power and then banned from the game for a decade,  was giving evidence in the corruption trial of former FIFA secretary-genera Jerome Valcke and beIN Media supremo Nasser Al-Khelaifi – who is also president of French champions Paris S-G and a member of the executive committee of European governing body UEFA.

Valcke and Al-Khelaifi have denied all wrongdoing while Kattner has his own ongoing legal challenge over his FIFA exit.

The 49-year-old German told the court he had “never met [Al-Khelaifi] personally”. He added: “I was not personally involved in the negotiations on the amounts. I was not a specialist in television rights.”

Asked how beIN Media Group had entered into negotiations with FIFA, Kattner said: “I don’t know.”

Evidence is also expected from Niclas Ericson, the former director of the TV division, and Thierry Weil, ex-director of marketing.

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