Swiss court delivers first judgment in FIFA corruption case
Former top FIFA official Jérôme Valcke (right, arriving at the court) escaped prison in this first Swiss judgment involving world football scandals.
Keystone / Alessandro Crinari
Former FIFA number two Jérôme Valcke has been given a suspended sentence and fine in a corruption case, while the president of French football team Paris Saint-Germain has been acquitted.
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Switzerland’s federal criminal court on Friday found Valcke guilty of forging documents linked to World Cup broadcasting deals in Italy and Greece. But he was acquitted of the more serious charges of accepting bribes and criminal mismanagement.
Valcke was given a 120-day suspended sentence and ordered to pay FIFA, world football’s Zurich-based governing body, €1.75 million ($2 million) in restitution. Prosecutors had asked for a three-year sentence.
PSG president Nasser al-Khelaïfi, who is also a television executive, was cleared of a single charge of inciting Valcke to commit aggravated criminal mismanagement.
The court also acquitted Greek marketing agency executive Dinos Deris, who was also charged with corruption.
This is the first of multiple scandals in world football to reach a judgment in Switzerland. Swiss prosecutors started investigating FIFA and international soccer officials six years ago.
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