Interrogation with Khelaifi to take long time: OAG

CAIRO – 26 October 2017: An additional interrogation session is needed with the Qatari Businessman Nasser al-Khelaifi, according to André Marty, the Head of External Relations, Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland in Bern.

"There is huge complexity to the criminal proceeding, there are questions of translation, there are questions of the masses of information that needs to be proceeded and to give obviously to the suspected person a fair chance to answer according to his legal rights," Marty said, according to The Independent.

This was followed by a seven-hour interrogation by Swiss investigators on Wednesday.
Khelaifi is a leading figure in Qatar’s multibillion-dollar push into global sports as the chairman of the Paris Saint-Germain soccer team and the chief executive of the beIN Media Group, a Doha-based television network.

The Swiss general prosecution is investigating beIN Sports and its chairman and CEO, Nasser al-Khelaifi, for their involvement in illegal negotiations with former Secretary-General of FIFA Jérôme Valcke in return for the purchase of the TV rights to broadcast four World Cup soccer championships, including the 2022 tournament.

OAG also opened investigations against Valcke and an unnamed figure in the sports rights business accusing them of bribery, corruption, criminal mismanagement and forgery of a document.

Following a request from OAG to legal authorities in France, searches were carried out at beIN’s offices at Boulogne-Billancourt in Paris on October 12, as they attempted to uncover the information stored there. Yet, beIN refutes all accusations made by OAG.
Khelaifi denies any and all accusations, and insists that he has nothing to hide, announced his high-profile French lawyer, Francis Szpiner.

"I am available for the Swiss prosecutors if they want to see me again," said Khelaifi, who has not been charged. "I came here peacefully and I leave very peacefully," mentioned The Associated Press.

He met with Switzerland's federal prosecutors on Wednesday two weeks after they revealed criminal proceedings against him.

Al-Kehelaifi’s case is one of the most direct links referred that Qatari officials paid bribery to host 2022 World Cup in Qatar.