The Swiss public prosecutor on Tuesday called for Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser al-Khelai and former FIFA number two Jerome Valcke to be jailed for corruption in a World Cup TV rights deal.
Swiss authorities are appealing the decisions handed down to the two men after the 2020 trial, which acquitted al-Khelaiyi and sentenced Valcke to a suspended sentence.
Al-Khelaifi, president of beIN Media, was cleared for inciting serious criminal mismanagement, Valcke was found guilty of a separate charge of forging documents related to the Italian and Greek World Cup TV rights allegation.
Valcke was ordered to pay 1.65 million euros in compensation to FIFA, including 400,000 euros in the main case, as well as 80,000 Swiss francs ($87,000) in legal costs.
“The defendants get a yellow card, but no more”, concluded the court’s president, Stephen Zenger.
On the second day of the appeal, federal prosecutor Christina Castellote requested a 28-month prison sentence for al-Khelai and 35 months in prison for Valcke, the former right-hand man of former FIFA president Sepp Blatter.
Valke and al-Khelaifi were accused of a “corrupt agreement” over Qatar-owned broadcaster BeIN’s expansion of their media rights in North Africa and the Middle East for the 2026 and 2030 World Cups.
Valcke is said to have sought Qatari help to buy a luxury villa in Sardinia in the summer of 2003, at a time when BeIN was negotiating an expansion.
The prosecutor said al-Khelaifi acquired the house for five million euros ($5.85 million) through a company that was transferred almost immediately to the brother of a close associate, before making it available to Valcke. .
Both denied wrongdoing and said the deal was a “private” arrangement, not related to the contract BeIN concluded with FIFA in April 2014.
The appeal hearing continues on Wednesday.
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