Swiss prosecutors appeal acquittal of ex-FIFA executive, Qatari businessman in media rights bribery case
Swiss prosecutors have appealed against court verdicts clearing former FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke of bribery and Qatari sports and broadcasting executive Nasser Al-Khelaifi of offering him incentives in a case involving World Cup media rights.
The prosecutors also sought further charges against Valcke.
The Attorney General’s Office had accused Al-Khelaifi and an
unnamed businessman of committing criminal mismanagement by offering Valcke
undue advantages, including the use of a villa owned by Al-Khelaifi in Sardinia
rent-free.
Both Valcke and Al-Khelaifi have denied wrongdoing.
“Our client was fully acquitted in October, after the most
exhaustive four-year investigation, the most comprehensive two-week trial, and
where the prosecution presented every shred of evidence and put forward every
possible theory, but proved nothing,” lawyers for Al-Khelaifi said in a
statement.
“Absolutely nothing has changed since October, either in
fact or in law.”
Valcke could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.
FIFA said it was assessing the matter and was not in a
position to comment further.
Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court in October cleared
Al-Khelaifi, who is chairman of Qatari media group BeIN sports and also
president of French soccer club Paris St Germain, of the charges after a
two-week trial.
Valcke was acquitted of accepting bribes and criminal
mismanagement. He was given a suspended fine of 24,000 Swiss francs ($26,500)
for the lesser offence of falsifying documents.
On Wednesday, the Attorney General’s Office said it had
filed an appeal seeking to have all three men convicted on the original charges
it had filed.
Prosecutors allege Valcke exploited his position as FIFA
secretary general between 2013 and 2015 to influence the awarding of media
rights for various World Cup and FIFA Confederations Cup tournaments to take
place in the period between 2018 and 2030.
Valcke was secretary general for eight years until 2015,
when he was banned by FIFA’s ethics committee for 10 years for ethics
violations.
The Frenchman was ordered by the Criminal Court in October
to pay the Zurich-based FIFA around 1.65 million euros ($2 million) in
restitution.
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