Fifa trial: Al-Khelaïfi acquitted, Valcke escapes prison

The boss of beIN Media and PSG Nasser Al-Khelaïfi was acquitted on Friday in Switzerland in a television rights case, while ex-Fifa N.2 Jérôme Valcke escapes prison and receives a 120-day fine conditional sentence for a secondary charge.

In this case, the first of multiple scandals in world football to result in a judgment in Switzerland, the two men were accused of having concluded a pact behind FIFA's back, falling under "unfair management" and liable to five years from prison.

For the floor, Jérôme Valcke had monetized his support in exchange for a villa

At the end of ten days of hearing in September, the prosecution had requested 28 months of imprisonment against the boss of beIN and Paris SG, 3 years against Jérôme Valcke and 30 months against a Greek businessman, Dinos Deris, who was acquitted on Friday on charges of "private corruption".

In all three cases, the prosecution had requested that the sentences be accompanied by a partial suspension.

For parquet, Jérôme Valcke had monetized his support for beIN in exchange for "the exclusive use" of a luxury villa on the Sardinian Emerald Coast, bought for him 5 million euros at the end of 2013 by a company briefly owned by Nasser Al-Khelaïfi.

The former secretary general of Fifa admitted to having requested the assistance of the Qatari leader to finance the "Villa Bianca", a few months before the signing in April 2014 of a contract between beIN and the football body concerning the rights in North Africa and the Middle East of the 2026 and 2030 Worlds.

BeIN, the only one in contention, paid a very high amount of which Fifa has never complained

But for the defendants, totally cleared in this shutter, these two episodes have "nothing to do": they both evoked a "private" arrangement, ensuring that paying bribes does not would have made no sense since beIN, the only one in contention, paid a very high amount of which Fifa has never complained.

Having become a global sports rights giant, the Qatari channel has in fact spent $ 480 million for two World Cups, 60% more than for the 2018 and 2022 Worlds, a contract described by Jérôme Valcke as "amazing", "fantastic", "sublime for Fifa".

In a second case attached to the same hearing, Jérôme Valcke was sentenced to a 120-day suspended fine for "forgery in the titles", but acquitted of the charge of "private corruption", after having touched 1.25 million euros from Dinos Deris.