Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the president of Paris Saint-Germain, has once more been exonerated in the corruption case involving the World Cup broadcasting rights.
The 48-year-old was accused of paying former FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke between €1.4 million (£1.2 million) and €2.3 million (£2 million) to give beIN Sports the TV rights to the 2026 and 2030 World Cups.
Al-Khelaifi allegedly gave Valcke exclusive access to a property in Sardinia, according to the Swiss Federal Court, although he was first cleared of those charges in October 2020.
The prosecutor requested a 28-month jail term against the beIN Sports chairman when the case was revived on appeal earlier this year. Al-Khelaifi has now been exonerated once more.
The PSG president’s Swiss lawyer Marc Bonnatt said in a statement released to RMC Sport: “Today’s verdict is a total vindication after a relentless six-year campaign by the prosecution which ignored both the basic facts and the law at every turn.
“Our client has once again for a second time been fully and completely cleared. The years of baseless allegations, fictitious charges, and constant smears have been proven to be completely and wholly unsubstantiated, twice.”
While a third defendant, Konstantinos Nteris, received a 10-month suspended sentence, Valcke was found guilty by the jury and given an 11-month suspended jail term and fine.
