The AFP report that former President of France Nicolas Sarkozy’s relationship with a Luxembourg fund called Peninsula Capital is the subject of heightened scrutiny in a probe into possible corruption surrounding the decision to award Qatar the 2022 World Cup.
Peninsula Capital, a Luxembourg investment fund, was raided at its premises earlier this week as part of the investigation into the conditions through which the 2022 FIFA World Cup was awarded to Qatar, according to judicial sources. Investigators are interested in possible financial manoeuvrings linked to former President Nicolas Sarkozy.
According to the weekly publication Marianne, French investigators from the anti-corruption office (Oclciff) and Luxembourg investigators carried out the search at the initiative of the investigating judge of the Paris court, Serge Tournaire. Both authorities are seeking to track €3.3m which is alleged to be linked to former President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The investigations launched in December 2019 by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) for active and passive corruption, concealment and money laundering aim to determine whether or not the awarding of the World Cup to Qatar gave rise to “a give-and-take deal” during a lunch at the Elysée in 2010. The lunch brought together Nicolas Sarkozy, Michel Platini, then UEFA president, and the crown prince of Qatar, Tamin ben Hamad al Thani, who became Emir in 2013.
A few months after lunch, PSG, owned by the American fund Colony Capital, was sold for €76m to the sovereign fund Qatar Sports Investments (QSI).
James Thorpe | GFFN