The French court appointed three judges to investigate allegations against Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the president of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), regarding his links with the kidnapping and torture of Tayeb Benabderrahmane (42), a French-Algerian lobbyist who usually does business in the Middle East area.
According to the French sports newspaper L’Equipe, Benabderrahmane claims he was kidnapped and tortured for months in Qatar in 2020 and was released only after signing a confidentiality agreement that would have prevented a number of documents incriminating Al-Khelaifi from coming to light.
“We are very happy that the denunciation of this affair is finally being investigated by the French justice system,” lawyers Maîtres Romain Ruiz and Gabriel Vejnar, responsible for the lobbyist’s defense, told ‘L’Equipe’.
According to the complaint, the Algerian allegedly arrested in January 2020 in Qatar, where he had settled three months earlier to lobby. There he was imprisoned for six months and tortured.
He was then placed under house arrest and finally allowed to leave in November of the same year, after signing a confidentiality protocol in which he promised not to divulge “sensitive” documents about al-Khelaïfi.
The French media are the ones who confirmed the news of the investigation to the PSG president, one of Qatar’s strongest men for his commitment to the world of sport.
Without going any further, Benabderrahmane would be in his possession documents which committed the owner of the PSG to the transfer of the television rights for the 2026 and 2030 World Cups, a conspiracy in which, according to L’Equipe, Jerôme Valcke, former secretary general of Fifa, was also involved.
The two men were acquitted in Switzerland (FIFA headquarters) in October 2020, and then on appeal in June 2022. Al-Khelaifi is also the chairman of the media conglomerate beIn media, which is responsible for much of the television broadcasting between the East.
It is not the first investigation that has set its sights on the PSG boss. A few days ago, the French court declared itself incompetent to prosecute Al Khelaifi, for alleged corruption in the Doha races for the Athletics World Championships.
The final decision of the Court of Cassation, the French high court, results in the annulment of the iindictment for active bribery that the court ruled against Al Khelaifi on May 23, 2019.
“I am happy with this decision in accordance with the law and remember that Nasser Al Khelaifi has always denied having committed any wrongdoing in this case,” his lawyer Francis Szpiner told AFP.
The decision issued also cancels the accusation against Yousif Al Obaidli, commercial director of the Al Jazeera network. The high court considered in its decision that there is no “indivisible character” in the facts investigated.
Suspicions center on two payments totaling $3.5 million, which the company Oryx Qatar Sports Investments -directed by Khalid Al Khelaifi, brother of Nasser- conferred in 2011 to a sports marketing company.
Source: Clarin
Jason Root is the go-to source for sports coverage at News Rebeat. With a passion for athletics and an in-depth knowledge of the latest sports trends, Jason provides comprehensive and engaging analysis of the world of sports.