Qatari Nasser Al-Khulaifi Trial in Switzerland on charges of corruption
Swiss judiciary announced today, Tuesday, that the Qatari Nasser Al-Khulaifi, head of the “BN” media group and the Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, will appear before the court in Switzerland in September next on corruption charges related to granting television broadcast rights to the World Cup.
French former FIFA Secretary General Jerome Falk and a third man, whose name was not mentioned in the statement, will also appear before the court, accused of hidden corruption, severe criminal mismanagement, and forgery of documents, according to Agence France-Presse.
The court concluded in a ruling issued on March 24 that “the request to step down is rejected.”
On Wednesday, the Swiss judiciary rejected a request to remove three members of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, submitted by Nasser Al-Khulaifi. And the Federal Criminal Court announced that the complaints court rejected the request to step down by Al-Khulaifi against two federal prosecutors and a federal prosecutor.
She explained that Al-Khulaifi requested the three members to step down, considering in particular that “the session of December 6, 2019 did not give him enough time to approach all the points he wanted.”
He also criticized the public prosecutor for “not appointing an independent and impartial judicial expert specializing in competition in the rights market for criminal procedures” and considered that “the acquittal evidence provided by the defense automatically was not taken into consideration.”
The complaints court ignored these accusations, noting in particular that “the applicant and the defense team had an opportunity to respond to the facts and criticisms leveled against him.”
Al-Khulaifi is being chased by the Public Prosecution “in the context of granting TV broadcast rights to the World Cup and the Confederations Cup football.”
In return, the Qatari official reached an amicable agreement with the International Football Association (FIFA), who withdrew his corruption complaint against him.
The judiciary accuses former French FIFA Secretary General Jerome Falk in the same case of “accepting bribery, veiled corruption, severe criminal mismanagement and forgery of documents.”
Al-Khulaifi and a third man working in the sports rights sector, who were not named, were accused of “inciting aggravated criminal mismanagement.” He also accused the third man of “bribery”.
According to the Swiss Prosecutor General’s Office, Falk, the right hand of former Swiss FIFA President Joseph Blatter, used his influence between 2013 and 2015, to influence the granting of media rights in Italy and Greece to multiple copies of the World Cup and Intercontinental Cup between 2018 and 2030.
The Swiss Attorney General’s office also indicated that Falk obtained undue benefits from two of the defendants.
Al-Khulaifi is considered one of the most prominent sporting faces in Qatar. He is apart from being the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the “BN” group, and the presidency of the Saint-Germain Club, owned by the Qatar Sports Inve7stment Authority since 2011, is also known for his closeness to the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and he also holds the presidency of the Tennis Association in his country .
