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sports Diasabra 25 Juni 2022

Al-Khelaïfi acquitted again, Valcke guilty in FIFA retrial

(AP) — Paris Saint-Ger- 2020. Despite being a suspect in
main president Nasser Swiss criminal proceedings,
al-Khelaïfi was acquitted Lawyers for Valcke said in Al-Khelaïfi was elected in
in Switzerland on Friday a statement he would ap- 2019 to join the UEFA ex-
for a second time in a re- peal and "the guilty verdict is ecutive committee and now
trial of alleged wrongdo- therefore in no way final." leads the influential Euro-
ing linked to former FIFA pean Club Association after
secretary general Jérôme A third defendant, Greek PSG refused to join the failed
Valcke. marketing executive Dinos Super League project last
Deris, was convicted of ac- year.
Al-Khelaïfi was cleared again tive corruption and given a
of a charge of incitement to 10-month suspended sen- The prosecution case against
commit aggravated criminal tence after first being acquit- Al-Khelaïfi focused on
mismanagement for allowing ted in 2020. He was again beIN's renewal of World Cup
Valcke to use a vacation home cleared of inciting Valcke to rights in the Middle East
in Sardinia rent free. Prose- mismanagement against FI- and North Africa with FIFA
cutors tried to link the home, FA's interests. around the time the Italian court judges withdrew an or- house in a separate case. Blat-
bought by a Qatari company The sentences for Valcke and villa was bought. der made in 2020 for Valcke ter and former UEFA presi-
in 2013, to Al-Khelaïfi-led Deris were both suspended Lawyers for Al-Khelaïfi ar- to pay FIFA 1.75 million eu- dent Michel Platini faced
broadcaster beIN Media for probationary periods of gued beIN's deal for the 2026 ros ($1.84 million) in restitu- fraud, forgery and financial
Group getting a renewed two years. and 2030 World Cups, said in tion. misconduct charges.
World Cup rights deal from court to be worth $480 mil- Verdicts are due on July 8
FIFA. The retrial was held in March lion in total, was good for "Mr. Valcke did not harm in that case, which relates
at the Swiss federal criminal FIFA. FIFA and his full acquittal to a Blatter-approved FIFA
Valcke, who was FIFA's top court after prosecutors ap- on the counts of mismanage- payment of 2 million Swiss
administrator for eight years pealed against the original While often using the vaca- ment has therefore logically francs ($2 million) to Platini
until being removed in 2015, verdicts. tion home from 2013 to 2015, been confirmed," his legal in 2011.
was acquitted again of crimi- Al-Khelaïfi's second acquittal Valcke also oversaw FIFA-led firm, Geneva-based RVMH
nal mismanagement and con- was hailed by his legal team talks to move the 2022 World Attorneys, said in a statement. Blatter and Valcke are still
victed on separate charges not as "total vindication." Cup in Qatar from June and "Just as logically, the criminal suspects in a separate Swiss
involving Al-Khelaïfi. They "The years of baseless allega- July to the cooler months of justice system has now re- criminal proceeding that also
relate to taking kickbacks in tions, fictitious charges and November and December. jected FIFA's civil claims." involves former FIFA finance
negotiations for World Cup constant smears have been FIFA was also awaiting, then director Markus Kattner,
broadcast rights in Italy and proven to be completely and dealing with the fallout from, FIFA declined comment un- That case is about a $1 mil-
Greece. wholly unsubstantiated — its ethics committee's inves- til studying the judges' writ- lion FIFA payment to the
twice," lawyer Marc Bonnant tigation into the 2018-2022 ten verdict which the court Trinidad and Tobago soccer
The Swiss federal criminal said in a statement. World Cup bidding contests. has said will likely not be federation in 2010.
court found Valcke guilty of The charges proven against published before September. Al-Khelaïfi has also been un-
repeated forgery and passive During a five-year investiga- Valcke related to filing three der investigation by financial
corruption. He was given a tion, Al-Khelaïfi, who is also payments totaling 1.25 mil- Valcke's convictions were an- prosecutors in Paris for pay-
longer suspended sentence a member of the World Cup lion euros ($1.32 million) to nounced in the same week ments linked to Qatari bids
— 11 months instead of three host nation's government, his personal company's ac- that former FIFA president to host the track and field
— than he received after the rose in power and status in counts as loans. Sepp Blatter was on trial in world championships, which
original trial in September European soccer. However, the three appeal the same Bellinzona court- were staged in Doha in 2019.

AlphaTauri says driver Pierre Gasly staying through 2023

(AP) — Formula One driv- Tost's pledge at the Canadian weeks ago when he had does not have an open F1 seat said the Frenchman is "defi-
er Pierre Gasly will stay Grand Prix that the 26-year- stressed he wants to race for after extending the contract nitely in the group of the best
with AlphaTauri through old Frenchman would wins and not just points. of Sergio Perez. and most competitive drivers
2023, the team said Friday. "100%" be back next season. That led to speculation Gasly in F1."
could try to break free from He expressed disappointment
The announcement con- Gasly's future with the team Red Bull, which has backed at not being given another "Undoubtedly, Pierre can
firmed team principal Franz didn't seem as certain two him for most of his career but shot with Red Bull, which play a major role in the team
hired him in 2019 but then having a successful season
demoted him back down to next year and it will be down
Toro Rosso — as AlphaTauri to us to provide him with a
was called then — midway competitive car, so that he
through the campaign. He can continue to deliver excel-
had struggled to impose him- lent results," Tost said.
self alongside Max Verstap-
pen, the reigning champion. Gasly is 11th in the standings
with 16 points. He has three
In Friday's statement, both career podiums.
sides agreed to work together.
"This year's new regulations Gasly bounced back from his
have created new challenges Red Bull demotion to end the
for us and being able to plan 2019 season with a second-
our development with the place finish at the Brazilian
team for the next 18 months Grand Prix. He drove held
is a good working basis for off Carlos Sainz Jr. in the
the future," Gasly said. closing laps to win the Italian
GP in 2020. His other podi-
In Montreal, Tost had simply um was a third-place finish at
stated that Gasly "has a valid last year's Azerbaijan GP.
contract, there's nothing
more to say." On Friday, he