GENEVA ( Associated Press) – UEFA on Friday freed its executive committee member Nasser al-Khalifi from any punishment, despite holding Paris Saint-Germain responsible in a dispute following the club’s Champions League defeat. Champions.
According to various press reports, PSG president Al-Khelaifi and the team’s sporting director Leonardo de Araujo of Brazil, after the 3-1 win, went down in the referee’s locker room with the intention of reprimanding him for his decisions. Which Real Madrid achieved in March.
With an incredible comeback in the second half, Real Madrid beat PSG 3–2 on aggregate in the quarter-finals, thanks to France’s Karim Benzema scoring three goals in the second half at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. In one of those goals, players from the Paris team claimed that there was a prior foul and therefore should have been invalidated.
The defeat denied PSG the possibility of continuing their quest for their first European title, in a campaign in which the Qatari-owned club signed Argentine star Lionel Messi for their superstar line-up, which included France’s Kylian. Mbappe and Brazil’s Neymar were involved.
According to media reports at the stadium, Al-Khelaifi had to calm down after trying to enter the dressing room of Dutch referee Danny McKeely, who has been chosen by FIFA as the whistler for the Qatar World Cup.
UEFA published the decision of its disciplinary committee on Friday night in which it reaffirmed the allegations of “violation of the basic rules of civilized conduct” and “non-playing conduct”.
However, the only ban adopted was a one-match suspension imposed on Leonardo from the team’s next match in UEFA competition. The club fired Leonardo, who has played for PSG and Brazil, last month.
UEFA did not explain why al-Khelaiah was not included in the disciplinary statement.
Al-Khelaiah joined UEFA’s executive committee as the team’s representative in 2019 and was promoted to head the influential European Club Association following the unsuccessful launch of the Super League last year.
That project challenged the authority of UEFA and the Champions League, which was led by Madrid and other major teams, although their participation was denied by PSG.
Al-Khelaiyi is also the president of the Bein Sports channel, a major broadcasting partner of UEFA that has acquired the rights to the Champions League.
