International Football
NEYMAR’S BOSS IN TROUBLE AS WORLD CUP BRIBERY CASE OPENS
Stupendously rich Qatari boss of Neymar at Paris Saint Germain, Nasser Al-Khelaifi has run into trouble waters as he has come under investigation by Swiss prosecutors for suspected bribery of a top FIFA executive to get World Cup broadcasting rights.
This has led to the opening of criminal proceedings against the PSG president who is also the CEO of Qatar-owned BeIN Media Group.
He is not standing alone. Joining him is the former FIFA secretary general, Jerome Valcke, and an unnamed “businessman in the sports rights sector.”
Their names were this Thursday announced by the office of Switzerland’s attorney general.
The case involves the award of broadcast rights for the next four World Cups from 2018 through 2030.
The proceeding against Al-Khelaifi is one of the first direct links to Qatar in sweeping investigations by federal law enforcement authorities in Switzerland, the United States, and France of FIFA, international soccer, and the 2018-2022 World Cup bidding contests.
According to Associated Press, the Paris offices of BeIN Sports were searched by two magistrates from the French financial prosecutor’s office, the federal agency said.
They were assisted by investigators from an anti-corruption unit.
Properties were also searched in Greece, Italy, and Spain while Valcke was questioned in Switzerland, the Swiss federal prosecution office said. It cited cooperation from a European Union criminal investigation agency.
“Multiple premises were searched, assets were seized and interviews were conducted as a result of this joint operation,” the EU body known as Eurojust said in a statement.
Valcke did not immediately respond to an email request for comment.
PSG declined to comment.
No suspect was detained on Thursday, said Swiss prosecutors whose work investigating FIFA and suspected money laundering linked to World Cup hosting bids began in November 2014.
Then, FIFA gave the Swiss federal office a report and evidence from its then-ethics prosecutor — former U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia — into the dual World Cup bidding contest won by Russia and Qatar.
Al-Khelaifi is alleged to have offered “undue advantages” to Valcke — FIFA’s CEO-like secretary general from 2007 until his firing in January 2016 — for the award of media rights in “certain countries” for the 2026 and 2030 World Cup.
Al-Khelaifi and Valcke previously worked on a deal for the 2018 and 2022 rights weeks after Qatar won the 2022 hosting vote. In January 2011, FIFA announced that Al Jazeera Sports — which later became BeIN — secured the rights for 23 territories across the Middle East and North Africa, including Saudi Arabia.
FIFA has never announced if BeIN also secured any 2026 and 2030 World Cup rights.
Swiss prosecutors also allege Valcke received “undue advantages” from a businessman who was not identified to award certain media rights for four World Cups from 2018 through 2030.
The criminal proceeding was opened on March 20, but announced only on Thursday, the Swiss federal office said.
Al-Khelaifi’s profile has risen in recent weeks as PSG pursued and sealed a world record transfer of Brazil star Neymar from Barcelona for 222 million Euros ($260 million) as it targeted a first Champions League title.
After PSG’s offseason spree signed off by Al-Khelaifi, European soccer body UEFA opened its own case into possible violation of soccer-specific rules designed to curb excessive spending by clubs on transfer fees and wages.
Since FIFA’s much-discredited executive committee picked Russia and Qatar in December 2010, the gas-rich emirate has bought up PSG with sovereign wealth and installed Al-Khelaifi as president. BeIN has also acquired a broad portfolio of rights including from UEFA for the Champions League and national team matches.
Al-Khelaifi’s rising status in European soccer has seen him earn a seat on UEFA’s strategy panel as a delegate of top clubs.
According AP, UEFA also declined to comment Thursday.
The latest case stemming from the wider investigation of FIFA’s business also saw criminal proceedings opened against Valcke in March 2016.
Valcke was the right-hand man to then-FIFA President Sepp Blatter for more than eight years until a swathe of senior executives at soccer’s world body was removed from office in fallout from a U.S. Department of Justice indictment revealed in May 2015.
Valcke, a French former TV presenter, was in Switzerland on Wednesday to testify at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in his appeal hearing against a 10-year ban by FIFA for financial wrongdoing and abuse of expenses.
FIFA said on Thursday it “fully supports the investigation” by Swiss and other authorities.
“FIFA has constituted itself as a damaged party in this investigation,” the Zurich-based organization said.
FIFA is seeking a share of more than $200 million held by the U.S. Department of Justice which secured forfeits from soccer and marketing officials in its ongoing investigation. The DoJ has indicted or secured guilty pleas from more than 40 people.
In the three-year Swiss investigation of international soccer, prosecutors said Thursday they have details of 180 suspicious transactions through banks in the country and opened “around 25” criminal proceedings.
Representatives from four national players’ unions on Thursday launched a new global organisation in Madrid, which they say will strengthen footballers’ rights and improve dialogue with governing bodies.
Opening a new front in the battle over who speaks for players, the International Footballers’ Association (AIF) was unveiled, with David Aganzo, president of Spain’s Association of Footballers (AFE) and a former head of the global union FIFPRO, appointed to lead the organisation.
Players’ unions from Brazil, Mexico and Switzerland were also represented.
The initiative drew a swift rebuke from FIFPRO, which said in a statement that Aganzo was acting out of self-interest and aligning himself with organisations linked to football governing bodies, as well as groups expelled from FIFPRO over alleged mismanagement.
Aganzo rejected the criticism, saying he “will not seek confrontation with FIFPRO”.
The launch comes amid strained relations between players’ unions and football authorities, particularly over the expanding international match calendar.
Relations between FIFA and FIFPRO deteriorated in 2024 after the union lodged a complaint with the European Commission, arguing that the global governing body was abusing its dominant position by adding competitions without sufficient consultation.
Aganzo denied suggestions that the new initiative was backed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, but said “direct dialogue with FIFA” was essential.
AFE’s Extraordinary General Assembly approved the initiative in February with 99.8% of votes cast in favour of spearheading the creation of the AIF.
The same assembly also backed AFE’s withdrawal from FIFPRO, citing what it described as a “complete lack of transparency, as well as its total lack of dialogue with international bodies.”
“We represent over 30,000 footballers, and we come here with a new model aimed at safeguarding players’ rights and facilitating direct communication with all international bodies,” Aganzo told reporters.
“We are in contact with 15 to 20 unions already who were very aware of this moment and waiting for this announcement to make their move and join our initiative.”
He declined to identify any unions beyond those present.
Asked about a report that a senior envoy to U.S. President Donald Trump had urged FIFA to replace Iran with Italy at the upcoming World Cup, Aganzo urged caution.
“These are more political issues; on April 30th, I’ll be speaking to Gianni (Infantino) at the FIFA Congress, and we will discuss those things,” Aganzo said.
“People who want to go to the World Cup have to earn their place on sporting merit.”
-Reuters
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A new trial over the death of Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona will begin on Tuesday, with seven members of his medical team charged with negligent homicide nearly a year after a previous case collapsed in a mistrial.
An enduring presence in Argentina – from towering murals to tattoos, opens new tab – Maradona died on November 25, 2020, at 60, after a heart attack while he was recuperating from brain surgery to remove a blood clot.
A court in San Isidro, near Buenos Aires, will hear testimony from just under 100 witnesses as it tries Maradona’s medical team over alleged negligence in the death of the 1986 World Cup champion.
His medical team has denied wrongdoing. The defendants are psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychologist Carlos Angel Diaz, physician Nancy Edith Forlini, nurse Ricardo Almiron, head nurse Mariano Ariel Perroni, and physician Pedro Pablo Di Spagna. An eighth defendant, nurse Dahiana Madrid, will be tried in a separate jury trial, with no date yet set.
Two months into the first trial, which started last March, a mistrial was declared when one of three judges, Julieta Makintach, resigned after video surfaced showing her being interviewed by a camera crew in the corridors of the courthouse and in her office as part of a documentary, in breach of judicial rules.
The retrial will require both prosecutors and defense lawyers to reassess their strategies after the first trial aired photographs, videos, audio recordings and forensic evidence. Many witnesses, including Maradona’s children and his former wife, Claudia Villafane, have already testified.
Prosecutors argued in the initial trial that medical professionals broke treatment protocols and that the home where Maradona was recovering from surgery amounted to a “theatre of horror,” where necessary care was not provided.
The defense countered that his death was inevitable given his longstanding health problems. Maradona struggled for decades with cocaine and alcohol addiction.
The negligence charges emerged in 2021 after prosecutors appointed a medical board to investigate Maradona’s death. The panel concluded his medical team acted in an “inappropriate, deficient and reckless” manner.
-Reuters
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Aliou Cisse has been named coach of the Angola national team, the country’s football federation (FAF) announced on Thursday, 24 hours after the Senegalese left his post in Libya.
The 50-year-old coach, who led Senegal to their maiden Africa Cup of Nations title in 2022, ended his short stint with the Libyan national team on Wednesday, after taking charge in March 2025.
“Welcome, Aliou Cisse, head coach of the Angola national team,” the FAF said on Facebook. Angola, which failed to reach this year’s World Cup, will start their 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign in September.
-Reuters
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