Top Swiss lawyer questions beIN Sports CEO

CAIRO – 25 October 2017: The Office of Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) questioned beIN Sports CEO, Nasser al-Khelaifi, on Wednesday about criminal allegations that he paid bribes to the FIFA to acquire exclusive rights to broadcast the 2026 and 2030 World Cup Championships.

The investigation came following beIN CEO’s involvement with former secretary-general of FIFA, Jérôme Valcke, in suspected bribery.

The attorney general's office referred Qatari-owned beIN Sports and its chairperson to the Criminal Court for contravening article 20 of the Protection of Competition Act and committing monopolizing practices.

The French prosecution inspected beIN’s headquarters in Qatar as they attempted to find the information stored there. A spokesman of the prosecution said that the company did not facilitate the process for the inspectors.

Prosecutors in France confirmed that this refusal is unusual in such cases, and they are currently looking to expand international cooperation to enable the investigations to be conducted in a smoother manner.

Valcke was sacked in January 2016 from his position as FIFA’s secretary-general on claims of corruption.
The ongoing investigations regarding beIN Sports show that the channel has allegedly bribed a businessman, whose name was not revealed, to grant it exclusive rights to broadcast the World Cup.