PSG chief Nasser Al-Khelaifi exercises right to silence during probe over Qatar's candidacy to host World Athletics Championships

Paris: Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) chief Nasser Al-Khelaifi remained silent during questioning by French prosecutors on Doha’s candidacy to stage the World Athletics Championships, according to official documents seen by AFP on Monday. “I exercise my right to silence,” the Qatari replied to each of the 28 questions put to him at the 11 June hearing in Paris. [caption id=“attachment_7431871” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Doha’s Khalifa International Stadium where the World Athletics Championships were held. AP[/caption] He was charged in May in connection with Doha’s candidacy to stage the championships. The Qatari capital lost out to London in 2017 but beat off Eugene and Barcelona for the 2019 edition, which took place at the Khalifa International Stadium between 27  September and 6 October. Al-Khelaifi’s lawyers Francis Szpiner and Renaud Semerdjian told AFP their client had refused to cooperate as “all the useful answers had already been supplied”. “There were no new elements since the last interview,” they added. Al-Khelaifi, who is also the boss of Qatari television channel BeIN Sports, was charged in May. He was unable to attend when first summoned for questioning by investigators that month as he was in Qatar for the domestic cup final. French prosecutors are looking specifically at two payments of $3.5 million in 2011 by Oryx Qatar Sports Investment, a company run by Nasser’s brother Khalid Al-Khelaifi, to a sports marketing firm run by Papa Massata Diack. Diack’s father Lamine Diack was president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) from 1999 to 2015 and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Al-Khelaifi has denied any wrongdoing.