PSG chief in bribery probe
THE club president who brought Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona for a world-record £198million is the subject of criminal proceedings around the sale of TV rights. Swiss prosecutors have opened the case against PSG supremo Nasser Al-Khelaifi for suspected bribery in connection with their investigation into former FIFA secretary-general Jerome Valcke for ‘various acts of criminal mismanagement’. The new findings concern the awarding of broadcast rights for two World Cups to Doha-based beIN Media Group, a company at which Al-Khelaifi is chief executive. Al-Khelaifi is alleged to have offered ‘undue advantages’ to Valcke for awarding media rights for the 2026 and 2030 World Cups.
A statement from the office of the Attorney General (OAG) in Switzerland said it was ‘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 World Cups from 2018-30. Also from Nasser Al-Khelaifi in connection with the award of media rights for certain countries for the 2026 and 2030 World Cups’. In a statement last night beIN responded, saying: ‘beIN Media Group refutes all accusations made by OAG. The company will fully co-operate with the authorities and is confident as to the future development of this investigation’.