BERN, Switzerland: Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, a Qatari soccer and television executive, was questioned Wednesday by Swiss investigators who say he bribed a FIFA official in a World Cup broadcasting rights deal.
Al-Khelaifi met Switzerland’s federal prosecutors two weeks after they revealed criminal proceedings against him. He denies wrongdoing and has not been charged.
The interview was expected to last several hours because of issues with translation and “lots of questions” to be asked, said Andre Marty, the spokesman for the Swiss attorney general’s office.
“The world of football needs to be patient for the results of this first interrogation,” Marty said outside the federal building.
As CEO of beIN Media Group — formerly Al Jazeera Sports — Al-Khelaifi secured TV rights for four World Cups, including the 2022 tournament in Qatar, across the Middle East and North Africa.
Al-Khelaifi and former FIFA Secretary-General Jerome Valcke are suspected of bribery, fraud, criminal mismanagement and document forgery linked to a 2026-2030 rights deal.
Key to the allegation is a luxury villa on the island of Sardinia that was seized two weeks ago.
Italian financial police say Al-Khelaifi allowed Valcke to use the property in Porto Cervo, which was valued at €7 million ($8.3 million). Italian police said the villa is officially owned by an international real estate company, and they questioned
eight people.
Properties were searched on Oct. 12 in France, Greece, Italy, and Spain, including beIN’s offices in Paris, while Valcke was questioned in Switzerland. He is already the subject of a separate Swiss criminal proceeding in a sprawling probe of suspected corruption linked to FIFA, international
soccer leaders and World Cup
hosting bids.
Al-Khelaifi’s case is one of the most direct links to Qatar announced by federal law enforcement agencies in Switzerland, the US, and France, who are cooperating on separate but linked investigations.
The 43-year-old Al-Khelaifi is a close friend of Qatar’s Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani. He was appointed to run PSG when it was bought by a Qatar sovereign wealth fund within months of FIFA picking Qatar as a World Cup host in December 2010.
PSG is not publicly implicated in the Swiss case.
Al-Khelaifi risks an interim ban from soccer duty by the FIFA ethics committee while investigations continue. FIFA has said its ethics investigators are making preliminary inquiries though no formal case has
been opened.
— AP
Qatari executive meets investigators in FIFA bribery case
Qatari executive meets investigators in FIFA bribery case
Closing Bell: Saudi main index closes in red at 11,167
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index dipped on Wednesday, losing 46.43 points, or 0.41 percent, to close at 11,167.54.
The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR4.88 billion ($1.30 billion), as 66 of the listed stocks advanced, while 192 retreated.
The MSCI Tadawul Index decreased, down 5.52 points, or 0.37 percent, to close at 1,506.55.
The Kingdom’s parallel market Nomu lost 153.40 points, or 0.65 percent, to close at 23,486.52. This comes as 32 of the listed stocks advanced, while 31 retreated.
The best-performing stock was Tourism Enterprise Co., with its share price surging 9.95 percent to SR14.36.
Other top performers included Mobile Telecommunication Co., Saudi Arabia, which saw its share price rise by 5.32 percent to SR11.48, and Al Masar Al Shamil Education Co., which saw a 4.86 percent increase to SR22.89.
On the downside, Almoosa Health Co. was the day’s weakest performer, with its share price falling 4.81 percent to SR150.40.
Dallah Healthcare Co. fell 3.81 percent to SR113.50, while Saudi Research and Media Group dropped 3.44 percent to SR100.90.
On the corporate front, Arabian Plastic Industrial Co. has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with K. K. Nag to explore the establishment of a specialized manufacturing facility for expanded polypropylene products.
According to a Tadawul statement, the agreement sets out initial mutual obligations and rights between the two parties as part of APICO’s broader expansion strategy to increase production capacity and meet rising industrial demand.
The company’s share price rose 1.21 percent to SR43.52 on the parallel market.
