Bellinzona (Switzerland) (AFP)

Key figures in world football, they now risk prison: the boss of beIN and PSG Nasser Al-Khelaïfi and the former number 2 of Fifa Jérôme Valcke will know their fate in Switzerland on Friday in a television rights case.

The three magistrates of the Federal Criminal Court of Bellinzona will read their decision against the two defendants at 1.30 p.m. local time (12.30 GMT), as well as against Dinos Deris, a Greek businessman absent for health reasons from the hearing held in September.

In this case, the prosecution requested 28 months imprisonment against Mr. Al-Khelaïfi, who will not attend the trial due to health restrictions, 3 years against Mr. Valcke and 30 months against Mr. Deris, with partial suspension. in all three cases.

It is for the Swiss justice to decide for the first time one of the multiple scandals which surround Fifa since 2015, when the United States has already sent two Latin American football leaders behind bars for "racketeering" .

- "Fantastic" contract -

Former right-hand man of ousted FIFA boss Sepp Blatter, Jérôme Valcke is criticized for having concluded a pact with Nasser Al-Khelaïfi behind his employer's back, falling under "unfair management" punishable by five years in prison.

For the prosecution, Mr. Valcke cashed 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.

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

Become a world giant of sports rights, 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 Mr. Valcke as "amazing" , "fantastic", "sublime for Fifa".

- Twenty investigations in progress -

The defense of Nasser Al-Khelaïfi also contests "the instigation of unfair management", the only charge remaining since the prosecution had to abandon that of "private corruption", due to an agreement at the end of January between the boss of beIN and Fifa.

In a separate file but attached to the same hearing, Jérôme Valcke is accused of having received 1.25 million euros from Dinos Deris, in three payments from Liechtenstein, to promote the obtaining of media rights for several World Cups in Greece and Italy.

Complainant, Fifa claims "between 1.4 and 2.3 million euros" to its former secretary general for having benefited for 18 months from "Villa Bianca".

She is also asking for 1.25 million euros from Mr. Valcke and Dinos Deris.

Beyond the fate of the three defendants, this trial is an important milestone for Swiss justice, which houses most of the international sports organizations on its soil, and has opened around twenty investigations around Fifa for the past five years.

In April, the Federal Criminal Court was forced to close a trial started in March on suspicion of corruption in the attribution of the 2006 World Cup to Germany: first postponed due to the Covid-19, this case involving the former football "Kaiser" Frank Beckenbauer has been overtaken by prescription.

© 2020 AFP