Valcke denies receiving “undue advantages” from Al-Khelaifi

PARIS (Reuters) – Former FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke has denied receiving “undue advantages” from Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the chief executive of Qatar’s beIN Media and president of Paris St Germain, after Swiss prosecutors opened a criminal investigation.

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) said on Thursday it suspected Valcke accepted “undue advantages” from Al-Khelaifi in connection with the award of media rights for the 2026 and 2030 World Cups.

“I just want to say that it’s not true. I have never done that. I have never received anything in exchange for anything,” Valcke told French sports daily L’Equipe on Friday.

“I refute the accusations against me or Nasser. I have received nothing from Nasser, I can assure you. There was never any exchange between Nasser and I. Never.”

Valcke was Sepp Blatter’s right-hand man when the latter ran FIFA, the Swiss-based world soccer body.

BeIN Media denied any wrongdoing on Thursday and said it was cooperating with officials.

(Reporting by Julien Pretot, additional reporting by Joshua Franklin; Editing by Toby Davis)

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