Nasser al-Khelaïfi is under formal investigation again, but Paris denies that has affected Doha’s plans in France.
PARIS — Qatar believes it is being subjected to a “witch hunt” in France and is set to pull back from future investments in the country, an official close to the government in Doha told POLITICO.
Tensions between the two countries have reached fever pitch in recent days after Nasser al-Khelaïfi, president of the majority Qatari-owned French football club Paris Saint-Germain, was put under formal investigation by financial prosecutors last week on charges of “complicity in vote buying and undermining the freedom to vote.”
A French judicial official confirmed that al-Khelaïfi is being investigated. The probe was first reported by Agence France Presse on Thursday.
Al-Khelaïfi has been the subject of multiple criminal investigations in France, none of which have resulted in a conviction. He has repeatedly maintained his innocence.
“There’s a witch hunt against Qatari businesses and people, with Nasser al-Khelaïfi as the lightning rod,” the official close to the Qatari government, who was granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive investigation, told POLITICO.
However, an adviser to French Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin denied that Qatar was looking to wind down its investments in France.
“The latest investments announced by Qatar are being deployed and discussions are underway on new projects,” the adviser said, pointing to a pledge to invest a further €10 billion in France made by the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron last year.
The most recent inquiry into al-Khelaïfi, who has been president of PSG since 2011 and is also a member of the board of Qatar’s wealth fund — the Qatar Investment Authority — concerns an investigation into French media group Lagardère. The Qatar Investment Authority is a Lagardère shareholder and investigators believe al-Khelaïfi may have used his influence to sway the wealth fund’s position during a contentious vote on the group’s governance.
Al-Khelaïfi was placed under formal investigation for “active corruption” in a separate case in 2019, but the decision by judicial authorities was overturned four years later by a French supreme court. Police are also looking into accusations by a French-Algerian lobbyist who said he was kidnapped and detained for six months in Qatar, during which time he was questioned on his possession of documents containing private information on al-Khelaïfi, AFP reported. The PSG president’s home was raided in the summer of 2023 in relation to that case.
Qatar’s reluctance to invest in France going forward should not impact its majority ownership of France’s top football club. In 2012, the Qatari-backed investment fund Qatar Sports Investments became the club’s sole owner. It sold a 12.5 percent stake to U.S. investment firm Arctos Partners in 2023.
