Head of Spanish league calls for block on controversial PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi joining Uefa

PSG's compliance with FFP has long been under scrutiny

Rob Harris
Thursday 31 January 2019 13:16 GMT
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The PSG chairman is also president of beIN Sport, one of main Uefa broadcast rights buyers
The PSG chairman is also president of beIN Sport, one of main Uefa broadcast rights buyers

The head of the Spanish league has called on members at the upcoming Uefa Congress to block Paris Saint-Germain chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi from taking a seat on European soccer's top decision-making body.

Al-Khelaifi has been elected by the European Club Association board to be one of its two delegates on the Uefa executive committee. Uefa's 55 member nations still have to ratify the Qatari's appointment next week at its congress in Rome.

But Spanish league president Javier Tebas said in a statement that Al-Khelaifi's "appointment must be rejected as it violates all reasonable rules of governance, not only because of the Financial Fair Play file, also because he is president of beIN Sport, one of main Uefa broadcast rights buyers."

PSG's compliance with FFP rules is under fresh scrutiny by Uefa, with Tebas having long-standing concerns about the Qatar-owned club's reliance on revenue from the Gulf state to comply with the break-even rules.

PSG had to forfeit 20 million euros ($23 million) of Champions League prize money after a 2014 settlement for breaching FFP rules. The club came under fresh scrutiny from Uefa in 2017, with ongoing questions about whether sponsor revenue from Qatar has been overvalued.

In a statement from the European Club Association, Al-Khelaifi said he was "deeply honored" to be taking the Uefa executive committee place of former Arsenal CEO Ivan Gazidis, who became ineligible last month when he moved to AC Milan. Italian clubs are already represented by Juventus president Andrea Agnelli, the ECA chairman.

"I look forward to working alongside members of the Uefa executive committee to enhance and develop European football, whilst ensuring that the interests of all the clubs are represented in the decision-making process," Al-Khelaifi said.

AP

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