Nasser Al-Khelaifi

Nasser Ghanim Al-Khelaïfi

Country (sports)	Qatar
Residence	Paris, France
Born	(1973-11-12) 12 November 1973 Doha, Qatar
Turned pro	1992
Retired	2003
Plays	Right handed
Singles
Career record	12–33 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 995 (4 November 2002)
Doubles
Career record	12–18 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 1040 (8 February 1993)
Last updated on: May 20, 2013.

Nasser Ghanim Al-Khelaïfi (Arabic: ناصر بن غانم الخليفي‎‎) (born 12 November 1973) is a Qatari businessman and a former professional tennis player. He is the chairman and chief executive officer of beIN Media Group,^[1] chairman of Qatar Sports Investments,^[2] president of the Qatar Tennis Federation (QTF) and vice president of the Asian Tennis Federation for West Asia (ATF).^[3]

Al-Khelaïfi is chairman and chief executive officer of Paris Saint-Germain Football Club in France,^[4] which is wholly owned by Qatar Sports Investments. He is also a member of the organizing committee for the FIFA Club World Cup.^[5]

In 2015, he was crowned ‘favourite Ligue 1. president’ and in 2016, L'Equipe named him ‘the most powerful man in French football’.^[6]

beIN Media Group

On 31 December 2013, Al Jazeera Sport global operations were spun off from Al Jazeera Media Network and rebranded as beIN Sports. In parallel, BeIN Media Group was incorporated and became the official owner of beIN Sports. Nasser Al-Khelaïfi was then appointed chairman and chief executive officer of beIN Media Group.^[1] beIN Sports has 22 channels including 17 HD channels and broadcasts across the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, North America, Australia and Asia. The strategy, aside from building the beIN premium sports network, is to develop the group's ambitions in sports and entertainment in production, distribution and digital media sectors.

Qatar Sports Investments

Nasser Al-Khelaïfi has been chairman of Qatar Sports Investments (QSi) since June 2011. QSi is a fund dedicated to investments in the sport and leisure industry on a national and international level.^[2]

Following the QSi acquisition of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) Football Club in June 2011,^[7] Nasser Al-Khelaifi became the chairman of the board of PSG and also CEO of the club,^[4] reinforcing Qatari interest in French football.

QSi has several other high profile partnerships including sponsorship of the FC Barcelona kit. QSi also owns the Burrda Sport sportswear brand.^[8]

Paris St-Germain

Nasser Al-Khelaïfi became the new chairman and chief executive officer of Paris Saint-Germain in October 2011.^[9] Shortly after being named chairman he presented a five-year plan to take Paris Saint-German to the top of the tree in France and abroad.^[10] As part of the long term plan for the club, Al-Khelaïfi brought in legendary footballer, Leonardo, as the new director of football.^[11]

Although Al-Khelaïfi had initially demanded a major trophy haul for the 2011-2012 season, PSG were soon eliminated from the Europa League and both domestic cups, leaving the team only able to compete for the Ligue 1 title. Despite spending more than $180 million on players, PSG failed to dominate, and lost out to eventual winners Montpellier HSC, though they did qualify for the UEFA Champions League by finishing second.^[12]

In the 2012-13 season, PSG won the Ligue 1 title and also make it to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League, thanks partly to the goalscoring of newly signed striker, Zlatan Ibrahimović. They eventually lost in a two-legged tie to FC Barcelona on away goals.

In the 2013–14 season PSG again finished top of Ligue 1 with a record total of 89 points .^[13] They reached the quarter finals of the UEFA Champions League where they lost to Chelsea 3-3 on aggregate, again going out only on the away goals rule.

In June 2012 QSi acquired the Paris Handball Club and merged it with the PSG sport franchise to create a wider and more competitive sport offer to the city of Paris.^[14]

Tennis

As a tennis professional, Al-Khelaïfi was the second most successful member of the Qatar Davis Cup team after Sultan Khalfan, playing 43 ties between 1992 and 2002 and compiling a 12–31 record in singles, 12–16 in doubles. Al-Khelaïfi appeared twice on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) main tour, losing each time in his first round matches in St. Pölten in 1996 (where he lost to former French Open Champion Thomas Muster) and in Doha in 2001. He reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 995 in late 2002.^[15][16]

Nasser Al-Khelaïfi has been president of the Qatar Tennis Federation since November 2008. In 2011, he was elected vice-president of the Asian Tennis Federation for West Asia. Nasser Al-Khelaïfi is a former Davis Cup player and member of the Qatar National Tennis Team with which he won the GCC Team Tournament.^[17]

Government of Qatar

In November 2013, Nasser Al-Khelaïfi was made Minister without Portfolio in the Qatari government by the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim.^[18]

Personal life

Al-Khelaïfi graduated from the Qatar University and is close to the Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, head of sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority.

In February, 2012, he won a French 'Sport Business' award, receiving the most votes out of 1,500 and finishing ahead of nine people.^[19]

His growing influence in the sport was recognised in 2015 when he was crowned 'favourite Ligue 1. president in a poll conducted by France Football, with 35% of the votes cast. In 2016, the French sporting title L'Equipe named him the 'most powerful man in French football' in a 30-man list, ahead of notable individuals such as Didier Deschamps and Zinedine Zidane.^[20]

References