Lausanne (AFP)

Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, boss of the television group beIN Media and the Paris SG football club, will be tried in September in Switzerland in a corruption case linked to the allocation of TV rights to the Football World Cup, justice announced on Tuesday Swiss.

The president of PSG will be judged from September 14 by the federal criminal court of Bellinzona (southeast), with the French Jérôme Valcke, former secretary general of the International Football Federation (Fifa), and a third man whose name has not been released.

The three men are being prosecuted for unfair management and instigation of unfair management, falsification of documents and passive bribery.

Nasser Al-Khelaïfi is accused of having granted advantages to Jérôme Valcke in exchange for the allocation of broadcasting rights for the 2026 and 2030 World Cups.

Mr. Valcke, then right-hand man of the former president of Fifa Sepp Blatter, would have received in exchange the use of a luxurious property in Sardinia (Italy).

The prosecution accuses the Qatari and the third defendant, a businessman in the field of sports rights, of instigating unfair management towards Mr. Valcke.

The businessman is said to have given Jérôme Valcke three payments totaling 1.25 million euros. In return, the Frenchman had to ensure that the company MP & Silva LTD obtained media rights in Italy for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

- Rejection of recusal requests -

TAF Sports Marketing was to receive media rights in Greece for the 2026 and 2030 Worlds, as well as for other tournaments.

The Swiss justice system indicated last week that it had rejected three requests for recusal filed by Mr. Al-Khelaïfi.

Indicted in February, the latter requested the recusal of the three members of the Public Prosecutor's Office of the Confederation (MPC, federal prosecution), arguing in particular that "the hearing of December 6, 2019 would not have left him enough time to address all points he wanted. "

Mr. Valcke for his part has already been suspended by the internal justice of Fifa for separate acts of corruption, for a period of 12 years, then reduced to 10 years by the Arbitral Tribunal for Sport (CAS).

The former Canal + journalist was implicated in a resale of 2014 World Cup tickets. He is also accused of having made private jet trips at the expense of Fifa.

A first trial in the Fifa case has just ended without trial.

Begun on March 9 in Bellinzona, the trial in Switzerland of three former officials of German football, on suspicion of buying votes for the award of the 2006 World Cup has been suspended due to the coronavirus.

According to the Swiss press, due to the limitation periods, the trial will ultimately not take place. But questioned Monday by AFP, the federal criminal court did not wish to confirm the information, promising to communicate "in due course on the continuation of the procedure".

© 2020 AFP