Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser al-Khelaifi was on Friday acquitted on appeal by a Swiss federal court of charges of corruption in the attribution of World Cup TV rights.
FIFA’s former secretary general Jerome Valcke was also acquitted of the same charges, but received an 11-month suspended sentence for bribery and forgery of documents in a separate case.
Al-Khelaifi, who is also chairman of Qatar-owned broadcaster beIN Media, had been charged with inciting Valcke to commit “aggravated criminal mismanagement”.
Valcke, who until 2015 was the right-hand man of now ousted FIFA president Sepp Blatter, faces the bulk of the charges linked to two separate cases of television rights corruption.
The Frenchman stands accused of wanting to transfer the Middle East and North Africa rights for screening the 2026 and 2030 World Cups to beIN Media, in exchange for “unwarranted benefits” from Al-Khelaifi.