After three years of proceedings, Jérôme Valcke will be fixed on his fate. On Friday October 30 at 1:30 p.m., the Swiss Federal Criminal Court (TPF) of Bellinzona will deliver its judgment in the case against the former French secretary general of the International Football Federation (FIFA) as well as Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, boss from Paris-Saint-Germain and BeIN Media.
Mr. Valcke, 60, is being sued for “Aggravated unfair management”, “false titles”, and “Passive corruption” by the Public Ministry of the Swiss Confederation (MPC). In September, during the trial, the Swiss prosecution requested against him 36 months in prison with a partial suspension as part of the investigation into the granting of Qatari groups Al-Jazeera and BeIN Media broadcasting rights for the North Africa and the Middle East of the FIFA World Cups of 2026 and 2030.
The MPC accuses Mr. Valcke of having received from Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, in return for this allocation, benefits with a value of between 1.4 million and 2.3 million euros, among which “The exclusive use of Villa Bianca” in Sardinia, from March 2014 to September 2015.
Swiss justice also accuses Mr. Valcke of having received 1.25 million euros from a Greek businessman through a company of which he is the only beneficial owner, and this within the framework of the allocation of television rights in Italy and Greece. “We do not wish to comment on the procedure before the verdict is delivered”, says Me Patrick Hunziker, the lawyer for former FIFA number two, who pleaded “The acquittal” of his client.
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“My course is a little comparable to the game of Monopoly”
During the trial, Mr. Valcke returned at length to his journey, from his heyday as FIFA’s number two (from 2007 to 2015) to his professional plummet, through his abysmal debts and the sale of his real estate in Switzerland. . “My background is a bit like the game of Monopoly, he said to World. I started small and ended up in rue de la Paix, then returned to the start through several luck cards. “ “He did not find a job after FIFA”, admitted the prosecutor Joël Pahud.
Now retired to Barcelona and – by his own admission – “Persona non grata” in European banks since 2017, he is considered one of the big burns of the reign of Swiss Sepp Blatter at the head of FIFA (1998-2015). “I liked the shadow, Blatter the light: between us it worked well”, he confided in 2019. Astonishing team that the one made up of the Roué Valaisan, cold-blooded political animal, and the ambitious and charming Valcke, never as comfortable as in his role as seller of commercial rights.
The mystery surrounding the promotion, in June 2007, of this former journalist at Canal + to the post of FIFA general secretary has never been solved. A few months earlier, however, he had been dismissed from his post of director of marketing after negotiating with Visa behind MasterCard (a partner of the World Cup since 1990), forcing the Federation to pay $ 90 million in compensation to MasterCard.
“Cicada train of life”
Everything has been written about the bonuses paid to him by FIFA, his glitzy lifestyle, his taste for luxury and his attraction to fine cars and yachts (highlighted by the “Panama Papers”) – a “Cicada lifestyle”, underlined the MPC.
“I was paid well [1,8 million d’euros en 2015, selon la FIFA], but in full agreement with the governing bodies and within the framework of the regulations, he assured in 2017. With my teams, I increased FIFA’s revenue from $ 1.6 billion per World Cup to $ 5 billion. I never hid anything from my activities. “
Soldered, the Blatter-Valcke tandem eventually broke in 2015, after the judicial tornado generated by the FBI. “We have not spoken with Mr. Valcke for five years”, confirms Mr. Blatter, who has for a time pretended to encourage his former right-hand man to seek his succession.
Dismissed in September 2015 after accusations of embezzlement brought against him by Israeli consultant Benny Alon, the Frenchman was dismissed ” with immediate effect “ then suspended for ten years by FIFA’s disciplinary bodies in early 2016 for violating seven chapters of the body’s code of ethics.
Other judicial fronts
The list of grievances of Mr. Valcke’s former employer is long and has resulted in him being the subject of criminal proceedings by the MPC for “Suspicion of multiple unfair management and other crimes”. “Complainant and injured party”, FIFA reproaches him among other things for having used private jets with his relatives, as during a trip to the Taj Mahal in 2012.
In November 2019, the French lodged an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to contest his deregistration – which had been confirmed by the Lausanne Court of Arbitration for Sport as well as by the Swiss Federal Court. “Mr. Valcke claims that FIFA has loaded the boat to him”, estimated Me Stéphane Ceccaldi, his lawyer before the ECHR.
Many observers of the body consider that the current president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, would welcome a criminal conviction of the Frenchman and Sepp Blatter, his predecessor, 84 years old.
For its part, Camp Valcke denounces the secret meetings that took place in 2016 and 2017 between Mr. Infantino and the former Swiss Attorney General, Michael Lauber: informal meetings that are worth to the President of FIFA and Mr. Lauber to be the subject of criminal proceedings in Switzerland. In 2019, Mr. Valcke and his lawyers had obtained the challenge of the magistrate, withdrawn from the investigations on the International Federation.
Beyond Friday’s judgment, the French will have to defend himself on other legal fronts. He will notably be auditioned by the Swiss prosecutor Thomas Hildbrand as “Implicated” in criminal proceedings against Mr. Blatter. This survey was expanded in May for a “Million dollar unsecured loan” paid from a FIFA account in 2010 to the Federation of Trinidad and Tobago.
