French judges question PSG president in athletics corruption probe

The Qatari boss of top French soccer team PSG Nasser Al-Khelaifi has been questioned in France in connection with a corruption probe over the awarding to Doha of the World Athletics championships, a judicial source said Saturday.

The source said Al-Khelaifi was questioned on Wednesday by investigating magistrates who termed him a "person of interest" as they examine a case which also looks at the circumstances in which the Olympic Games were awarded to Rio de Janeiro for 2016 and Tokyo for 2020.

Al-Khelaifi's lawyer Francis Szpiner did not respond to an AFP request for comment.

The magistrates were looking specifically at two payments of $3.5 million in 2011 by Oryx Qatar Sports Investment, a company jointly owned by Al-Khelaifi and his brother Khalid, to a sports marketing firm run by Papa Massata Diack.

His father Lamine Diack was formerly president of the IAAF, the world athletics governing body, and a member of the International Olympic Committee.

At the time, Qatar was seeking to