BELLINZONA (Switzerland) • Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi was yesterday acquitted by a Swiss court of corruption over the allocation of World Cup TV rights, while former Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke was handed a suspended sentence for a secondary charge. Prosecutors had called for a jail term of three years for Valcke and a 28-month sentence for Al-Khelaifi following 10 days of hearings at the Swiss Federal Criminal Court of Bellinzona last month. But Al-Khelaifi, who is a minister in Qatar's government and a member of the Uefa executive committee, was yesterday cleared of aggravated criminal mismanagement. Frenchman Valcke was given a 120-day suspended sentence despite being found guilty of a separate charge of forging documents related to the attribution of Italian and Greek World Cup TV rights. A third defendant, Greek businessman Dinos Deris, was also cleared of charges of active corruption with Valcke and inciting him.

Source: The North Africa Journal October 30, 2020 21:00 UTC