By Daily sports on October 31, 2020

Paris St-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has been cleared of corruption after a trial in Switzerland.

Al-Khelaifi, who is also chairman of the BeIN media group, had been accused of giving gifts to former Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke, in order to secure broadcast rights for the 2026 and 2030 World Cups.

Valcke was found guilty of forging documents relating to TV rights.

He was given a 120-day suspended sentence.

The Frenchman was also ordered to pay Fifa about 1.65m euros (£1.48m) in restitution.

Valcke was cleared of accepting bribes and criminal mismanagement after a trial at the Swiss Federal Criminal Court. Prosecutors had called for a three-year prison sentence.

Al-Khelaifi had been charged with inciting Valcke to commit aggravated criminal mismanagement in connection with his role with BeIN Sports.

The Qatari businessman, who sits on the Uefa executive committee, said the verdict was “a total vindication”.

“It restores my faith in the rule of law and in due process, after four years of baseless allegations, fictitious charges and constant smears of my reputation – all of which have been proven to be completely and wholly unsubstantiated,” he said.

Valcke, ex-Fifa president Sepp Blatter’s former right-hand man, was banned from football for 10 years in 2016 for a series of alleged breaches of the governing body’s code of ethics related to the resale of World Cup tickets, bribery and failure to co-operate with investigators.

He lost an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) in 2018. (BBC)

•PHOTO: Nasser Al-Khelaifi

Source Daily sports

Posted October 31, 2020

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