Swiss appeals court convicts ex-FIFA official Valcke of bribery

The appellate division of the Federal Criminal Court gave Valcke, 61 - secretary general of the world soccer body from 2007 to 2015 - an 11-month suspended jail sentence. He had been cleared by a lower court in 2020 of accepting bribes and aggravated criminal mismanagement, but Swiss prosecutors appealed the ruling.

A Swiss appeals court found former FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke guilty of forging documents and accepting bribes in a case involving World Cup media rights, it said on Friday. The appellate division of the Federal Criminal Court gave Valcke, 61 - secretary-general of the world soccer body from 2007 to 2015 - an 11-month suspended jail sentence.

He had been cleared by a lower court in 2020 of accepting bribes and aggravated criminal mismanagement, but Swiss prosecutors appealed the ruling. The advantages Valcke allegedly received included the rent-free use of a villa owned by Qatari sports and broadcasting executive and Saint-Germain chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi in Sardinia.

The appeals trial of both men, who had denied bribery charges, was held in March. The appeals court, which reached its verdict on Thursday, acquitted Al-Khelaifi of inciting Valcke to commit criminal mismanagement. It also acquitted Valcke of the charge of aggravated dishonest management.

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