The Swiss prosecutor's office said in a statement on Thursday that the president of French football club Paris Saint-Germain, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, former FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke and an unnamed businessman had been indicted on charges related to the transfer of media rights to FIFA's top tournaments
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th February, 2020) The Swiss prosecutor's office said in a statement on Thursday that the president of French football club Paris Saint-Germain, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, former FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke and an unnamed businessman had been indicted on charges related to the transfer of media rights to FIFA's top tournaments.
"The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland has filed an indictment against the former Secretary General of the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), Jerome Valcke, the chairman of the BeIN Media Group, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, and a businessman in the sports rights sector in connection with the award of media rights to various World Cup and FIFA Confederations Cup tournaments," the statement says.
Valcke is charged with accepting bribes, several counts of aggravated criminal mismanagement and the falsification of documents, the statement reads. Al-Khelaifi is charged with inciting Valcke to commit mismanagement, the same for the unnamed businessman, who is also charged with bribery.
An investigation revealed that Valcke received unjustified advantages including the exclusive right to use Al-Khelaifi's villa for 18 months without paying rent, which comes out to between 900,000 and 1.8 million Euros ($973,445 and $1.95 million), and approximately 1.25 million euros from the unnamed businessman in three tranches during the distribution of media rights.
Mismanagement accusations against Valcke are related to his failure to report that he had received these advantages despite being obligated to do so, and thereby became illegally enriched, while the bribe charges are based on the allegation that from 2013-2015, he used his position in FIFA to influence the conclusion of contracts for the sale of the FIFA tournaments' media rights in Italy and Greece.
Valcke, who served as FIFA Secretary General since 2007, was suspended from duty in September 2015 due to possible involvement in illegal ticket sale schemes for 2014 FIFA World Cup matches in Brazil. In February 2016, the FIFA Ethics Committee suspended him for 12 years, but the term was reduced by the FIFA Appeals Committee to 10 years in June the same year. In February 2017, Valcke appealed the decision in the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which dismissed it in July 2018.
