Al-Khelaifi had been charged in a case related to the awarding of the World Cup media rights which also involved former FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke.
The Swiss Supreme Court has cleared BeIN Media Group chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi’s name of any corruption in the attribution of football broadcasting rights.
Khelaifi, head of beIN Media Group, was acquitted in October after a trial in which he appeared alongside former FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke.
In a statement, Marc Bonnant, the Swiss counsel representing Al-Khelaifi during the appeal, said: “Today’s verdict is a total vindication. After a relentless six-year campaign by the Prosecution – which ignored both the basic facts and the law at every turn – our client has, once again for a second time, been fully and completely cleared. The years of baseless allegations, fictitious charges and constant smears have been proven to be completely and wholly unsubstantiated – twice.”
Al-Khelaifi was accused of instigation of aggravated dishonest management while Valcke was accused of “repeated aggravated unfair management”.
The prosecution alleged that at a meeting in October 2013 at the French headquarters of beIN, Al-Khelaifi promised to buy a villa in Sardinia for 5m euros ($6.06 million), granting its exclusive use to Valcke in exchange for support in its bid for the TV rights in North Africa and the Middle East for the 2026 and 2030 World Cups.
From 2013-15, Valcke also oversaw a FIFA consultation process to move the 2022 World Cup in Qatar from the traditional months of June and July to the winter dates in November and December – due to the intense heat in the nation.
The two men had initially been acquitted of the charges during an initial trial in 2020 by the Federal Penal Tribunal, but the Public Ministry of the Confederation then launched an appeal.
Al-Khelaifi, who is also a member of the UEFA executive committee, was acquitted of a charge in October 2020 that he incited Valcke to commit aggravated criminal mismanagement at FIFA while Valcke was cleared of the criminal mismanagement charge.
Al-Khelaifi was cleared of inciting aggravated criminal mismanagement, with Valcke found guilty of a separate charge of forging documents related to the attribution of Italian and Greek World Cup TV rights.
Valcke and Greek marketing agency executive, Dinos Deris have both been convicted with 11 months suspended prison sentence and fine for Valcke and 10 months suspended prison sentence for Deris, who was previously acquitted at the original trial.
