The president of French football club Paris Saint-Germain, Nasser al-Khelaifi, is under investigation in France over allegations of an illegal conflict of interest, according to prosecutors in Paris.
The preliminary investigation concerns al-Khelaifi’s simultaneous leadership of PSG and beIN Media Group and his alleged involvement in discussions over Ligue 1 broadcasting rights.
According to the Paris prosecutor’s office, the investigation is linked to a meeting between representatives of the French professional football league and al-Khelaifi in July 2024.
The meeting took place a day after beIN Sports submitted a €100 million ($115 million) offer for the rights to broadcast one Ligue 1 match per week. The French professional football league subsequently accepted the offer.
The investigation was opened in April following a complaint from anti-corruption organisation Anticor, with the case assigned to France’s anti-corruption and financial police.
A source close to the matter said Anticor alleged that al-Khelaifi participated in discussions concerning the approval of beIN Sports’ bid while serving as chairman of beIN Media Group, which it argued created a potential conflict of interest.
The organisation also allegedly claimed that al-Khelaifi pressured other Ligue 1 club presidents to support the beIN Sports proposal.
However, al-Khelaifi’s lawyer, Renaud Semerdjian, rejected the allegations, describing them as unfounded both legally and factually.
“The allegations made against Mr Nasser al-Khelaifi are without basis, neither legally nor factually,” Semerdjian told AFP.
The lawyer maintained that his client had “always acted in an independent, impartial and objective manner.”
Al-Khelaifi has been PSG president since Qatar Sports Investments took over the club in 2011, with the club subsequently pursuing ambitions of becoming one of Europe’s leading football sides.
The latest investigation adds to a series of legal cases involving the PSG chief in recent years. In February 2025, he was charged with complicity in abuse of power relating to shareholder voting at a company.
However, previous corruption charges connected to Qatar’s bids to host the 2017 and 2019 World Athletics Championships were definitively annulled by France’s Court of Cassation in February 2023. The court ruled that the French justice system did not have jurisdiction to prosecute him in that case.
