PARIS – The chief executive officer of media group beIN was handed preliminary charges of corruption as part of an investigation into the bidding process for the 2019 track world championships in Qatar, a judicial official said Wednesday.
The official said Yousel Al-Obaidly was indicted on March 28. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the case is ongoing.
A close ally of Paris Saint-Germain president and beIN chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi, Al-Obaidly is also a board member of the French soccer club.
In November 2016, Le Monde newspaper obtained documents showing that a former IAAF official received two payments totaling about $3.5 million from Qatari investors before the vote for the 2017 track world championships.
Qatar eventually lost to London but was later awarded the 2019 worlds. The championships will be held in Doha from Sept. 27-Oct. 6.
The two payments from Oryx Qatar Sports Investments, an investment fund linked to the Qatari government, were made to Pamodzi Sports Marketing in October and November 2011, days before the vote.
In a statement, Al-Obaidly denied wrongdoing.
“I voluntarily attended an appointed meeting as part of a preliminary investigation," the statement read. "The allegations raised are not only utterly baseless and unsubstantiated, but they have been – quite remarkably – leaked to the media. For the avoidance of any doubt whatsoever, the allegations are completely and categorically denied and will be vehemently challenged using the full force of the law. It would not be appropriate to say anything further.”
Pamodzi was founded by Papa Massata Diack, a former marketing consultant at the IAAF who has been banned for allegations of extorting hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Russian marathon runner to avoid a doping ban before the 2012 Olympics.
Diack is the son of former IAAF president Lamine Diack. According to Le Monde, Lamine Diack was handed preliminary charges of "passive corruption" in March on suspicion he favored the Qatari bid in exchange of money transferred to his son's company.
In another case, Brazilian and French authorities are trying to find out whether Lamine Diack and his son played a role in arranging alleged bribes to help Rio de Janeiro earn the hosting rights of the 2016 Olympics. Diack, who ran the IAAF from 1999-2015, has also been accused of covering up failed Russian doping tests in exchange for money.
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