KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTING —- French champions Paris Saint-Germain are tottering under the weight of two scandals which have added to the sense of a crisis in the country’s football after the Paul Pogba affaire.

The newspaper Liberation raised accusations against PSG’s Qatari president Nasser Al-Khelaïfi who is also head of the influential European Club Association and thus a member of the executive committee of continental governing body UEFA.

The case concerns a Franco-Algerian entrepreneur and “lobbyist” who allegedly had compromising information on Al-Khelaïfi, regarding the controversial award by FIFA to Qatar of the imminent 2022 World Cup finals. PSG, on his behalf, have denied any wrongdoing.

A second case concerns a report from Le Parisien that French justice is also investigating three individuals accused of money laundering in favor of PSG. The three were referred to the Paris Court for questioning in a case launched in 2021.

The allegation concerns a hidden network of former police officers, at the service of PSG, and who are being investigated for violation of professional secrecy, influence peddling, corruption, forgery and assistance in the entry and illegal residency of a number of individuals.

Three people are in police custody.

The first of the suspects, Malik N. , joined PSG in 2018 and recently ended his involvement with the club. It is alleged that he was in charge of requesting confidential information from a police contact to obtain details of the legal proceedings in which some of the club’s footballers were involved.

Among them was Neymar who, in 2019, was involved in an altercation by slapping a Rennes fan.

Extortion plot

The second detainee is a police officer on leave who is accused of obtaining a residence permit for a major investor from the Middle East, charges he has denied.

The last one, Tayeb B. , victim of the alleged Al Khelaifi extortion plot , is being investigated for having allegedly reached an agreement with lawyers for the president of PSG to remain silent and not reveal documents that could embarrass Qatar.

In a separate development, Al-Khelaifi has said UEFA is launching an investigation into the summer financial activity of Barcelona which bought an escape route from financial collapse by selling television rights and digital assets in multi-million pound deals. 

The French national team’s preparations for the World Cup defence has been convulsed by revelations of blackmail and attempted extortion by members of the entourage of Juventus midfielder Pogba

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