PSG football club president Al-Khelaifi investigated in France for alleged kidnapping and torture

Al-Khelaifi, president of PSG, has been placed under investigation in France for the alleged kidnapping and torture of a French-Algerian citizen.

Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the Qatari President of PSG football club in France has reportedly been placed under investigation today, Tuesday, February 28, by the French judicial authorities. A civil case has been lodged against him through three courts of the Paris Tribunal for the alleged crimes of kidnapping, forcible detention and torture.

The accusations have been levelled by 42-year-old Tayeb Benabderrahmane, a French-Algerian citizen who is usually involved in business in the Middle East. He claims these incidents allegedly occurred after he was arrested in January 2020 in Qatar.

In statements to the French news outlet L’Equipe, Benabderrahmane’s lawyers, Maitres Romain Ruiz and Gabriel Vejnar, said: “We are very happy that the allegation of this story is finally the subject of an investigation by the French justice”.

“Benabderrahmane claims to have been imprisoned and tortured there for six months. He was then placed under house arrest and finally authorised to leave in November of the same year after having signed a confidentiality protocol in which he undertook not to disclose sensitive documents about Nasser Al-Khelaifi”, the French newspaper reported.

It has been speculated that the documents Benabderrahmane claimed to be in possession of were related to Al-Khelaifi’s involvement in the fraudulent allocation of the 2022 Qatar World Cup. The PSG owner is also suspected of underhand dealings to acquire the television rights for the World Cups of 2026 and 2030. These were granted while Al-Khelaifi was also the head of Bein Media, the buyer of those rights.

This is a plot for which the PSG president – who owns Qatar Sports Investement (QSI) – was already under suspicion, in which Jerome Valcke, the former FIFA general secretary, was also allegedly involved.

Today’s news is the second scandal to rock the French football club this week following the announcement of an investigation of its Moroccan player, Achraf Hakimi, for alleged rape, as reported by 20minutos.es.

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