Nasser al-Khelaïfi, 52, president of Paris Saint-Germain and head of beIN Media Group, is once again in the spotlight. According to the source, supported by information from L’Équipe, Anticor has reported a potential conflict of interest to the Paris prosecutor’s office regarding the Ligue 1 TV rights for 2024.
“The association suspects him of having used his various roles”
“According to our information, the Anticor association filed a report on March 3 with the Paris prosecutor’s office against Nasser al-Khelaïfi for illegal conflict of interest. The association suspects him of having used his various roles – president of PSG, president of beIN Media Group, and member of the LFP board of directors – to “attempt to influence the League’s board of directors’ decision in favor of the company he heads.” To understand, we need to go back to the summer of 2024. Vincent Labrune was leading discussions on the sale of Ligue 1 TV rights, and the LFP president was expecting €700 million for domestic rights alone. But the negotiations fell through.
According to Anticor, these discussions show that Nathalie Akbar (NAK) wore multiple hats and, during “this preparatory meeting for the board vote,” “exerted strong pressure on the other Ligue 1 presidents, with the aim of having the offer proposed by beIN Sports accepted.”
“NAK considers the basis of this complaint ‘absurd’”
“When contacted, NAK’s entourage deemed the basis of this complaint ‘absurd’: ‘It was the clubs, league representatives, and even political figures who pressured beIN to finance the broadcast of this match, not the other way around… Why would Mr. Al-Khelaifi have pressured anyone to favor beIN, when there were no other broadcasters and it was the league and the clubs desperately seeking a broadcaster to buy the last match?’”
Regarding the conflict of interest, they added, it is Yousef al-Obaidly, president of beIN Sports France, who exercises total operational and executive control over the company, not Mr. Al-Khelaifi. To protect himself from any criticism, Nasser al-Khelaïfi recused himself from the July 2024 vote.
“A cycle that seems to repeat itself every six months.”
Furthermore, he has no connection with LFP Media, the entity created to market TV rights, and sat on the League’s board of directors, as did many other Ligue 1 presidents. This alleged complaint—of which no one has been informed—illustrates once again the attempt to rewrite history and blame Nasser al-Khelaïfi for the decisions and failures of others. A cycle that seems to repeat itself every six months. Nasser al-Khelaïfi has never wavered in his impartiality or independence and has scrupulously ensured he avoided any conflict of interest—he has always been driven solely by the desire to defend the best interests of French football. “
The heart of the matter is clear: Anticor believes that the Parisian boss may have blurred the lines between his roles at Paris Saint-Germain, beIN, and the LFP board of directors during the explosive TV rights dispute. The association suspects he used this position to influence beIN’s bid during the summer of 2024, in a context where the League was seeking a solution after the failure of negotiations hoped for by Vincent Labrune.
Al-Khelaïfi’s camp completely rejects this interpretation. His entourage maintains, on the contrary, that beIN was pressured to intervene, points out that NAK had withdrawn from the July 2024 vote, and also highlights Yousef al-Obaidly’s executive role in the group’s operational management.
” What makes the affair even more serious is the overall context: the TV rights fiasco has already damaged Ligue 1’s image, and this new episode immediately reignites suspicions, settling of scores, and political interpretations surrounding its governance. Anticor’s accusation is therefore quite forceful, but Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet’s defense rests on a simple premise: he did not favor beIN; on the contrary, he claims to have responded to a situation that was already in crisis.
