PARIS (AP) — Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has been handed preliminary charges from an investigation into possible corruption, a judicial official told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The person was not authorized to speak publicly as the probe was ongoing and said the activities were not related to the Ligue 1 club but to Al-Khelaifi's links to a French businessman.
Al-Khelaifi was handed preliminary charges of complicity in the alleged buying of a vote and harming of freedom to vote, and of complicity in abuse of power to the detriment of the Lagardère Group, the official said.
Al-Khelaifi was not placed under judicial supervision. He denies wrongdoing.
Preliminary charges in France mean the suspect could be cleared if an investigation turns up nothing, or formally indicted and sent to trial.
Arnaud Lagardère, the head of the Lagardère Group, is suspected of having used 125 million euros ($130 million) of the group’s funds for his personal expenses over several years.
According to Le Monde newspaper, Al-Khelaifi is suspected of having helped Lagardère to obtain a favorable vote of Qatar Holding LLC, a subsidiary of the sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority — and at the time the largest shareholder of his group — at the general meeting of shareholders in 2018.
The newspaper said this was in return for a promise made to the Qataris to appoint a diplomat who was close to Doha to the Lagardère Group's board of directors, to represent the emirate's interests.
The Qatari sovereign wealth fund said Thursday it “unequivocally rejects any allegation of improper conduct by QIA or Nasser Al-Khelaifi,” adding he had no influence on decisions about Lagardère.
“Day-to-day matters involving companies into which QIA has made an investment are handled by its executives, not by members of QIA’s board such as Nasser Al-Khelaifi,” the fund said in a statement.
A source close to the PSG president said the case "has absolutely and emphatically nothing to do with Nasser Al-Khelaifi, but as usual he will get dragged through a completely spurious process as a famous name, who is apparently responsible for anything and everything, until everything quietly disappears without any grounds whatsoever in a few years.” The person was not authorized to speak publicly.
In addition to his role at PSG, Al-Khelaifi is also a UEFA executive committee member and chairman of the European Club Association, making him the most influential official in club soccer, setting the agenda for the sporting and commercial success of the Champions League.
He also is chairman of Qatar-owned beIN Media Group, one of UEFA's main commercial clients and holder of Champions League rights in the Middle East, North Africa and parts of south-east Asia.
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Graham Dunbar in Geneva contributed to this report.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Samuel Petrequin, The Associated Press
