The chairman of high-spending Paris Saint-Germain and the powerful sports broadcaster beIN, both owned by Qatar state funds, has been accused in Switzerland of criminally bribing the former Fifa secretary general Jérôme Valcke to buy TV rights to World Cup tournaments. Nasser al-Khelaifi, one of the most powerful figures in European and world football because of PSG’s and beIN’s Qatari backing and Fifa’s controversial vote for Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup, was named as the subject of a criminal proceeding by the Swiss attorney general’s office (OAG) on Thursday. In an announcement that revealed a new dimension to the corruption scandals and criminal investigations that have engulfed football’s world governing body since 2015, Khelaifi was accused of bribing Valcke in connection with the award of TV rights for the 2026 and 2030 World Cups. beIN Sports has bought from Fifa the rights to broadcast those tournaments to countries in the Middle East and north Africa. Following a request from the OAG to legal authorities in France, searches were carried out at beIN’s offices at Boulogne-Billancourt in Paris, where the broadcaster – and PSG – dominate French football. The broadcaster, of which Khelaifi is the chief executive as well…