Nasser Al-Khelaifi - People also ask
Nasser Al-Khelaifi is the Qatari businessman who has run Paris Saint-Germain since 2011, chairs beIN Media Group, and now leads European football's club body, the EFC, putting him at the centre of talk about a possible 2027 challenge to FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
Nasser bin Ghanim Al-Khelaifi was born in Doha, Qatar, on 12 November 1973, the son of a pearl fisherman. Before he was known in football, he was a competitive tennis player who represented Qatar 43 times in the Davis Cup between 1992 and 2002. That tennis career is also where he formed a lasting friendship with a young Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, now the Emir of Qatar, a relationship that would shape his later career.
Al-Khelaifi’s rise in sports business began with Al Jazeera Sport, the forerunner of what became beIN Media Group, which he now chairs as one of the largest sports and entertainment broadcasters in the world, operating across roughly 40 countries. In 2011, Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), the state-linked fund he also chairs, bought Paris Saint-Germain, and Al-Khelaifi became club president. Under his leadership PSG transformed from a mid-table French side into a superclub, culminating in the club’s first UEFA Champions League title in 2025.
His influence now extends well beyond one club. Al-Khelaifi has chaired the European Football Clubs (EFC), formerly the European Club Association, since April 2021, sits on UEFA’s Executive Committee, and since October 2025 has represented the EFC on the FIFA Council, putting him inside nearly every major room where European football’s rules and money get decided.
That concentration of power is exactly why his name is trending now: reports say a group of European football executives is backing him as a potential challenger to Gianni Infantino for the FIFA presidency in 2027, even as his own camp insists he has no interest in the job. Whether or not that campaign ever materialises, it reflects how central Al-Khelaifi has become to the sport’s governance, well beyond his day job running PSG. Sources: Yahoo Sports, PSG.fr, Qatar Sports Investments.