PSG chief Al-Khelaifi set to join UEFA executive committee
If ratified, the owner of Paris Saint-Germain could take over the vacancy left by Ivan Gazidis, although questions have been raised on his suitability.
Paris St Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi is set to join European football's governing body UEFA's executive committee as one of two club representatives.
PSG chief joins UEFA
The European Club Association (ECA) said the Qatari had been elected to replace Ivan Gazidis, the former Arsenal chief executive who has moved to Italy's AC Milan. The other ECA seat is taken by Juventus president Andrea Agnelli.
Al-Khelaifi's election still has to be ratified by the UEFA Congress at a meeting in Rome next week.
The Qatari is also chief executive of BeIN Media, which holds exclusive television rights in the Middle East to the major European leagues and international club and country tournaments. Some people have been quick to question this appointment by UEFA.
New UEFA executive and PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi seems like the ideal man to help with UEFA's investigation into the dealings of new UEFA executive and PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi. Well done all involved.
— Barney Ronay (@barneyronay) January 30, 2019
Being implicated in a bribery case would surely fail a FIFA integrity check (see Sheikh Ahmad case), but today it seems no barrier to joining UEFA's executive committee. https://t.co/LrDcma0Hp1
— Graham Dunbar (@gdunbarap) January 30, 2019
🤔 When you hear that the PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi is reportedly set to join Uefa's policy-making executive committee, despite all the FFP rules that his club has broken... pic.twitter.com/IcvUK0YnNT
— The Sportsman (@TheSportsman) January 30, 2019
Swiss prosecutors opened a criminal investigation in 2017 into former FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke and Al-Khelaifi over World Cup broadcasting deals. Both men have denied wrongdoing and neither has been charged.
The UEFA executive committee is made up of the president and 16 other members elected by the Congress, as well as two ECA representatives and one from the European leagues.