Paris (AFP)

PSG boss Nasser Al-Khelaifi, indicted for suspicion of corruption in Doha's bid to host the World Athletics Championships, remained silent against Paris judges on June 11, according to an interrogation on Monday. AFP.

"I use my right to silence", he answered each of the 28 questions asked by the magistrates.

"All the useful answers had already been made", in two notes addressed to the magistrates at the end of May, "and there was no new element in the investigation since the previous interrogation," Qatari lawyers told AFP. Francis Szpiner and Renaud Semerdjian.

On March 20, Nasser Al-Khelaifi had already visited financial judges Renaud Van Ruymbeke -parti retired this summer- and Benedict of Perthuis. At the time, he explained himself and escaped an indictment. Reconvicted later, he did not show up and was finally indicted by mail on May 23rd.

In March, the judges had notably questioned him about suspicious payments at the end of 2011, in the middle of the Qatar campaign to obtain the organization of the 2017 World Athletics Championships.

A few days before the vote, the fund "Oryx Qatar Sports Investment" (QSI) -founded by Khalid Al-Khelaïfi, who manages the affairs of his brother Nasser- had paid a total of $ 3.5 million to Pamodzi, a company of sports marketing owned by Papa Massata Diack.

This Senegalese, nicknamed "PMD", was then the exclusive marketing rights officer of the International Athletics Federation (IAAF), chaired from 1999 to 2015 by his own father Lamine Diack. The latter is indicted in this investigation and his son is wanted by the French justice for several years.

The magistrates seek to determine whether, in return for these payments, Lamine Diack favored the Qatari nominations on the one hand by supporting the postponement of the dates of organization of the competitions, given the high temperatures in Qatar, and secondly obtaining favorable votes from IAAF members in the selection process.

Doha will not be successful for 2017 but will win the Worlds-2019, the judges suspect a catch-up potential corruption pact.

In March, Nasser Al-Khelaïfi had explained that in 2011 he was not aware of these payments from "Oryx QSI", a company now owned equally by the two brothers, according to his interrogation of which he was informed. AFP. However, he had provided the unsigned and undated contract to justify these payments.

Busy at the time with the purchase of PSG, "I was not involved at any level, nor in the discussions, nor in the organization of the World Championships, nor those of 2017, nor those of 2019", had- he then affirmed.

© 2019 AFP