The defenses of Al-Khulaifi and Falk are rejected, and the trial session continues in the "FIFA scandals"
Today in Bellinzona the trial of the Swiss judiciary of the former Secretary General of the International Federation of Football Association (FIFA) of France, Jerome Falk, and Qatari Nasser Al-Khelaifi, president of the French club Paris Saint-Germain, and the BN media group resumed today in a corruption case related to the granting of television broadcasting rights for the 2026 and 2030 World Cup finals. After the court rejected the defendants ’defense demands.
And the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona began a hearing in the middle of the day for Falk, who, like Al-Khulaifi, faces a five-year prison sentence, by addressing the substance of the case after the first day that was devoted to their defense objections to the lawsuit.
The three Swiss judges rejected the arguments that considered this case "tarnished" and "tainted" on the suspicion of collusion between the Swiss public prosecutor and FIFA, which is the subject of the Fateh investigation this summer.
And the court considered that there is no proof that "the means of proof in the current procedures will spoil" this case, which is certainly resounding but is completely separate.
The judiciary therefore began hearing the former Secretary General of FIFA, the right hand until 2015 to ousted president Sepp Blatter.
The Public Prosecution office accuses Falk of obtaining from Al-Khulaifi the exclusive use of a luxury villa in Sardinia, in exchange for his support for beIN's access to television broadcasting rights for the 2026 and 2030 World Cups.
Falk, 59, a former journalist for Canal Plus, who became a specialist in the TV rights market, explained that he had "no longer had an income" since he was sacked in 2015, and was subsequently suspended for 10 years by the internal judiciary of the Union. International football.
Falk summed up his speech by saying, "Without work, with family, I assure you that money is burning very quickly," noting that he had sold a yacht and jewelry, and that "since 2017 he has been unable to open a bank account in Europe", to the point that he divorced the following year His wife so she can open an account in her name.
"I started an agricultural project in a country, and I hope the crops will provide an income in the coming months," he said, declining to say more after "two or three other attempts" to launch a new beginning that was "polluted" by FIFA's interventions.
Follow our latest local and sports news, and the latest political and economic developments via Google news