The director general of the Qatari television group BeIN is under investigation for corruption by the French authorities, who suspect he paid bribes in a bid to help Doha host the World Athletics Championships.
Yousef Al-Obaidly, who is also on the board of directors at Paris Saint-Germain, is also under judicial investigation for “aggravated money laundering” according to Le Monde. The paper also says that Lamine Diack, the disgraced former head of the IAAF, athletics’ governing body, is also facing “passive corruption” charges by the National Financial Office.
The case centres around two payments totalling $3.5m which were sent in October and November 2011 at a time when Qatar was bidding to host the 2017 World Athletics Championships and 2020 Olympics.
While those bids failed, Qatar later won the right to host the 2019 World Athletics Championships. The Guardian understands that event will definitely go ahead whatever happens as the French judicial process only centres on the failed 2017 bid.
French investigators are understood to be looking into evidence that $3.5m was transferred from Oryx Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) – an arm of the Qatari government – to Pamodzi Sports Marketing, a company founded by Papa Massata Diack, a former marketing consultant at the IAAF and the son of the now disgraced former president, Lamine.
The contract stated that a first “non-refundable” payment of $3.5m is expected as soon as the contract is signed, a sum collected by Massata Diack company four days before voting for the 2017 world championships. According to Le Monde, PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi said the transaction was facilitated by Yousef Al-Obaidly.
However, in a statement Yousef Al-Obaidly denied any wrongdoing. “I voluntarily surrendered to a summons as part of the investigations of the investigating judge,” he said. “The charges are not only highly unfounded and inconsistent but have been remarkably leaked to the media. To avoid any possible doubt, these accusations are fully and categorically challenged and will be with the utmost energy, using, for this purpose, all legal means.“
Massata Diack, who was banned for life from athletics in 2016 after being found guilty of corruption and also faces an international arrest warrant, said he was confident he would be found innocent of any wrongdoing over the 2017 Qatar bid.
“Now that a trial is set to take place in France, I will respond officially through my lawyers to all these stupid allegations,” he said. “I propose that you go to attend the trial to get my side of the story. See you in court.”