Paris Saint-Germain chairman, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, is under criminal investigation for bribery over the sale of World Cup media rights.
Al-Khelaifi who is from Qatar, masterminded the record-breaking £199million signing of Neymar this summer and is also chief executive of TV company, BeIN Sports.
Swiss prosecutors suspect former FIFA secretary general, Jerome Valcke, “accepted undue advantages” from Al-Khelaifi “in connection with the award of media rights for certain countries at the FIFA World Cups in 2026 and 2030”.
In a statement, the Swiss attorney general said the new proceedings involved suspected cases of bribery, fraud and forgery against Valcke and Al Khelaifi, who is the chief executive of the beIN Media Group.
“It is suspected that Jerome Valcke accepted undue advantages from a businessman in the sports rights sector in connection with the award of media rights for certain countries at the FIFA World Cups in 2018, 2022, 2026 and 2030, and from Nasser Al-Khelaifi in connection with the award of media rights for certain countries at the FIFA World Cups in 2026 and 2030.
“As it announced in March 2016, the OAG (Swiss Attorney General) is already conducting a proceeding against Jerome Valcke, in particular on suspicion of various acts of criminal mismanagement. This proceeding is still ongoing.
“The new proceeding has been opened primarily on the basis of findings obtained by the OAG in the earlier proceeding,” the statement read.
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