A QATARI sheikh’s son has been arrested in Spain over alleged financial crimes linked to the collapse of Malaga football club.
Rakan Al-Thani, son of the club’s former owner Abdullah Al-Thani, was jailed after appearing before a judge by videolink from Madrid last Thursday.
He is accused of using club money for the family’s personal benefit, including paying for private cars, holidays and homes, and disguising the spending as legitimate business expenses.
Prosecutors also allege the family used money belonging to Malaga CF to buy shares in the club and retain control of it, even as its finances deteriorated.
The alleged offences took place between 2012 and 2019.
Prosecutors are seeking 14-and-a-half years in prison for Rakan, his father Abdullah and his brothers Nayef and Nasser, who are all accused in the case.
While Rakan is now behind bars, his father and two brothers remain on the run, with European arrest warrants outstanding against them.
Rakan was arrested at Munich Airport on September 12 as he prepared to fly to Doha, Qatar, after an international arrest warrant was activated.
He was transferred to Madrid earlier this month, where a judge ordered him to remain in custody without bail.
A police report named his brother Nasser as the next target after he left a German hotel before officers could notify him of the arrest warrant.
Sheikh Abdullah took over Malaga CF in 2010, initially investing heavily in the club.
Malaga reached the Champions League quarter-finals in 2013, but the club’s fortunes later nosedived as financial problems mounted.
The team was relegated from La Liga in 2018. In February 2020, a judge removed the Al-Thani family from the club’s management and appointed a court administrator amid the investigation into alleged financial wrongdoing.
The club has remained under the administrator’s management since.
Malaga CF now plays in Spain’s top division after spending eight seasons in the second tier, the Segunda Division.
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