Translated material
President of Paris Saint-Germain can be covered by diplomatic immunity to get away from the persecution of FIFA
The President of the French Club of Paris Saint-Germain, Namer al-Helafi, can take advantage of diplomatic immunity to get away from the FIFA investigation on suspicion of fraud, forgery of documents, criminal negligence and bribery of private individuals, writes The Times .
Since 2013, al-Helafi has been a minister without a portfolio in the government of Qatar, which allows him to use diplomatic immunity and get out of the pursuit of FIFA. According to the publication, the Italian police searched for a villa in Sardinia, which PSG president, presumably, gave as a bribe to the former Secretary General FIFA Herome Valka. The police raid was carried out in coordination of the actions of several European countries participating in the investigation.
On October 12, the Switzerland prosecutor's office announced the initiation of a criminal case against al-Helafi and former Secretary General FIFA Zheir Valka. They are suspected of fraud, falsification of documents, criminal negligence and bribery of individuals.
According to the investigation, al-Helaiyi gave Valka a bribe for the purchase of rights to broadcast matches of the world championships. On Friday, information appeared that al-Helafi provided Valka for the use of the villa on Sardinia as a bribery.
On September 17, 2015, the FIFA Committee on Ethics in connection with the internal investigation temporarily released Valka from the performance of the duties of the Secretary General. The official was suspected of corruption, as well as organizing illegal tickets for the sale of tickets for the 2014 World Cup.
On January 9, 2017, the FIFA Extrant Committee fired Valka from the post of general secretary. On February 12, by the decision of the FIFA Committee on Ethics, the official was removed from football activities for 12 years.
In 2016, the Switzerland authorities opened a criminal case against Valka in connection with the "various actions" of a criminal nature associated with the abuse of official position. The investigation in this case has not yet ended.
At the moment, the Swiss authorities received 180 reports on corruption actions in world football. The Ministry of Justice and Police of Switzerland conducts an investigation into 25 criminal cases and analyzes the seized documents containing about 19 terabytes, TASS notes.