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Topics: Paris Saint-Germain, Football, Qatar
Marcus Chan
Paris Saint Germain president Nasser Al Khelaifi is reportedly being investigated over accusations of kidnapping and torturing.
Aside from being the president of PSG, Al Khelaifi is also the chairman of beIN Media Group, Qatar Sports Investments. He is also the president of the Qatar Tennis Federation and vice president of the Asian Tennis Federation for West Asia.
According to AS, three judges were appointed in Paris on Monday to look into the accusations of kidnapping and torture made by Franco-Algerian lobbyist Tayeb Benabderrahmane.
The report states that Benabderrahmane filed a complaint claiming that he was tortured in Qatar in 2020 for being in possession of documents containing compromising information about Al Khelaifi.
Multiple French news outlets, including L’Equipe stated that Benabderrahmane filed the complaint with a civil action.
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This means that under French law, a judicial investigation will be conducted with regard to the alleged crimes.
It has been reported that information possessed by Benabderrahmane could possibly be stored on Al Khelaifi’s mobile phone.
The information could show that the PSG president was involved in some form of wrongdoing with regard to FIFA’s decision to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, plus the decision to award television rights for the 2026 and 2030 World Cup to beIN Media.
However, Al Khelaifi himself has previously spoken about Benabderrahmane's claims, in November he said: "You are talking about professional criminals. They’ve changed their lawyers more times than they’ve changed their stories and their lies. It is the ultimate media manipulation.
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"I’m just amazed so many people have taken their lies and contradictions as credible – but that’s the media world we’re in today. Justice will run its course – I don’t have time to talk about petty professional criminals."
Al Khelaifi was previously investigated for the mentioned issues due to his relationship with former FIFA member Jerome Vackle, but the Qatari was acquitted.