Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, the president of PSG, presented himself as planned at the opening of his trial, this Monday in Bellinzona, in the south of Switzerland.
This concerns the supposed loan of a villa by the boss of BeIN Sports to the ex-number 2 of Fifa, initiated by a meeting in 2013 in Boulogne-Billancourt according to the prosecution, in exchange for his intervention in the allocation of TV rights.
Masked and silent throughout the hearing, according to AFP, the Qatari leader is to be heard on Tuesday from 10:30 a.m. as part of the charges of instigating unfair management that weigh on him (the section concerning a possible corruption was dropped in February).
But these debates, eagerly awaited after five years of scandals around world football, will only take place if the three judges decide to continue the hearing.
The Parisian president will plead his innocence
On Monday, the criminal court looked into the absence of Greek businessman Dinos Deris, 63.
But above all, it must remove the suspicions of collusion pointed out repeatedly by the defense of Nasser Al-Khelaïfi and that of Jérôme Valcke, the former secretary general of Fifa.
The defense estimated Monday that the procedure was entirely "soiled" by another case: the revelation of informal meetings between the former chief of the public prosecutor's office Michael Lauber and the current boss of Fifa, Gianni Infantino, which are worth to the two men a investigation for “obstructing criminal proceedings” and resulted in three challenges.
These reproaches "have no influence on the validity" of the evidence examined in Bellinzona, replied Cristina Castellote, one of the representatives of the prosecution, for whom the defense seeks to postpone the debates to "aim for prescription".
Under Swiss law, anyone who pushes someone to commit a crime or misdemeanor risks the same penalty as the perpetrator.
In this case, both Valcke and Al-Khelaïfi risk between one and five years in prison.
If the trial continues, NAK intends to plead his innocence.
Swiss justice wants results
If the hearing comes to an end, it will be the first judgment pronounced in Switzerland, the headquarters of most international sports organizations, on the twenty or so investigations opened for five years around Fifa.
In April, the Federal Criminal Court was forced to close a trial on suspicion of corruption in the award of the 2006 World Cup. First postponed due to the Covid-19, this case involving Franz Beckenbauer was overtaken by prescription.
After this "snub", the hearing in Bellinzona is "a unique opportunity" to show that Swiss justice "knows how to be as effective" as that of the United States, which has already pronounced "29 convictions" in Fifa files, underlined Me Saverio Lembo, the lawyer of the instance.
