BELLINZONA: A Swiss Court of Appeal in Bellinzona has upheld the the acquittal of Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the president of Paris-Saint-Germain and beIN Media Group, over charges of “aggravated incitement to unfair management”.

The Qatari had been acquitted, in October 2020, over criminal proceedings opened in 2017 by the Public Ministry of the Confederation (MPC) for the granting of television rights for the 2026 and 2030 FIFA World Cups to beIN Sports.

Marc Bonnant, a lawyer for Al-Khelaifi who is a member of the UEFA executive committee, said: “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 to be completely and utterly unfounded – twice.”

Jérôme Valcke, former secretary-general of FIFA, Jérôme Valcke, had been acquitted of a charge of “aggravated unfair management” over a separate case also relating to World Cup TV rights. He is no longer required to return €1.75m to FIFA.
Valcke remains subject to two criminal proceedings by the Swiss public prosecutor’s office for “suspicions of unfair management”.
In March, the Zurich prosecutor’s office formalized the opening of a criminal investigation against MM. Blatter and Valcke for “suspicions of unfair management” following a complaint filed in December 2020 by FIFA “in relation to the FIFA museum project”.

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