Latest news with #Qatarigovernment
DW
5 days ago
- Sport
- DW
PSG and Qatar finally reach Champions League summit – DW – 06/01/2025
When Qatar bought Paris Saint-Germain in 2011, it looked like they would quickly spend their way to the top. They've shed stars for a likeable young side, but it's hard to see this as a win for football. This was a night of firsts. A first Champions League for Paris Saint-Germain. The first time a final has been won by five goals. And a first European trophy for Qatar. "Everyone doubted us," said Qatari club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi after the match. " A lot of people didn't have faith in our project. Today we've proved it. Honestly, I can't believe it, we won 5-0. It's a dream, As PSG coach Luis Enrique and his players bounced joyfully on the Munich pitch before lifting up Al-Khelaifi after a stylish 5-0 dismantling of Inter on Saturday night, Qatar Airways advertising provided both backdrop and a further reminder of the engine of their success. After 14 years of near misses, implosions and the departures of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and the rest of the big names, Qatari Sports Investments, which is operated by the Qatari government, had finally got the statement win it craved. Given that Inter warmed up with Qatar Airways emblazoned on their training kit too, perhaps they couldn't really lose. That Qatar Airways branding is a familiar sight in Munich, with Bayern Munich — who usually play their home matches at this stadium — wearing the logo on their sleeves until the deal ended in 2023, following intense pressure from fans about the country's human rights record. Qatar and Bayern Munich parted, but why? Michael Ott led fan pressure at the time and told DW that football higher-ups will not be forced to cut their ties with countries with questionable human rights records. "It was a deception. You feel a bit betrayed, but I think we expected it," he said of the fact that Bayern signed a new deal, with another country with a questionable record, Rwanda, shortly after they ended their public relationship with Qatar. "All signs were showing the deal wasn't continued because of Qatar and not because of the Bayern officials. There wasn't really a shift in the mindset of the Bayern officials." Bayern Munich fans protested heavily against Qatari sponsorship. This reads: 15,000 dead for 5760 minutes of football. Shame on you. (Photo: November 5, 2022) Image: Jan Huebner/IMAGO Now the win with PSG has even more eyes on Al-Khelaifi, whose claim to be the most important man in football grows ever stronger. As well as being president of PSG, the 51-year-old former tennis player is chairman of the European Clubs Association — which represents the interests of 700 European clubs — is on the executive committee of UEFA — which organizes European football including the Champions League — and on the organizing committee for the upcoming FIFA World Club Cup. He is also a minister without portfolio in the Qatari government and chairman of state-owned broadcaster BeIn Sports, which has bought the rights to the Champions League. Bayern's fans, and German fans in general, tend to object to state ownership of clubs that were once community assets and made the point when PSG visited Munich last November. They raised a huge banner of Al-Khelaifi with a red line through it. The same image was stuck to escalators, walls and benches across the city on Saturday. Paris welcomes Al-Khelaifi Paris, however, seems largely to have welcomed Qatar and Al-Khelaifi. Ott, who now lives in France, said the attitude of PSG fans is "a stark contrast to Germany." "Of course, they have been speaking about human rights problems before the [2022 Qatar] World Cup, but way less than in Germany, and when I speak to the French, most of them care way less than the Germans about this topic," he said. "It has taken longer than we imagined but we have won the Champions League," PSG fan Sebastian told DW shortly after the match. "The players were so good tonight but of course we needed the money from the owners to get here. They have been great for us. This is just about football." As the big screen camera panned to Al-Khelaifi just before the trophy was presented, the crowd greeted him with warm applause. The Qatari reciprocated then took his place in the lineup of dignitaries, hugging each player as they collected their medals. Doue and co. promise bright future About an hour earlier as, Doue, 19, finished yet another sumptuous team move to score PSG's third goal on 63 minutes, it was easy to see just why so many fans don't concern themselves with the ownership question. Two goals from a French teenager in the most dominant Champions League final performances in memory is exactly the kind of story that draws people to the game. Desire Doue scored twice and announced himself to the world Image: Peter Cziborra/REUTERS But Doue isn't quite the homegrown talent narrative of old, he was signed from Rennes for €50 million ($57 million) last year. No other French club has ever spent that much on a player while PSG and Qatar have surpassed it 10 times. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the Georgian winger who scored the fourth cost even more, though substitute Senny Mayulu, who added a fifth, has come through the PSG youth system. That mix of smart big money purchases and finally beginning to tap their rich local market of talent will worry more traditional European powerhouses. For the masses of Parisian fans making their way into the Munich night, there seemed to be no worries at all. Edited by Sean Sinico
Washington Post
14-05-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
Beleaguered Boeing wins massive deal to sell jets to Qatar airline
Qatar awarded a contract for up to 210 new wide-body civilian airliners to Boeing on Wednesday, a blockbuster deal for the beleaguered aerospace company that was inked in a Doha ceremony where President Donald Trump hailed it as evidence of his abilities to promote U.S. economic interests overseas. According to a White House fact sheet, the $96 billion agreement would include 130 of Boeing's 787 Dreamliners and 30 of its 777X planes with options for 50 more aircraft. No timeline for delivery was provided. The order is Boeing's largest ever for wide-body jets. Qatar Airways is owned by the Qatari government.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's business conflicts ‘worst since there were slave owners in the White House'
Donald Trump's conflicts of interest are the worst since there were slave owners in the White House, a former presidential ethics adviser has said. Richard Painter, who was chief White House ethics lawyer from 2005-2007, said Mr Trump's business empire – spanning hotels, real estate, crypto currency and social media – meant he was more compromised than any president in post-Civil War history. Mr Painter, who served under President George Bush, told The Telegraph: 'The financial conflicts of interest of the president himself are unprecedented in our country, at least since the Civil War. 'Some of our earlier presidents had financial conflicts of interests with plantations, but not since then, until Donald Trump came along.' At least 13 presidents owned slaves at some point during their lifetimes, according to the White House Historical Association, including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Mr Trump's conflicts of interests are even worse than during his first term, Mr Painter added. The president's business empire has expanded beyond hotels and golf clubs to include the cryptocurrency venture World Liberty Financial – which the Trump family has a majority holding in – and the social media site Truth Social. Last week World Liberty Financial announced that a fund backed by Abu Dhabi was planning to make a $2bn (£1.5bn) transaction using one of its digital currencies, in a move that is expected to generate revenues for the Trump family. The deal comes less than two weeks before Mr Trump's state visit to the Middle East – which will see him travel to the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The Trump Organisation, which is managed by Eric Trump, also recently announced a deal to build the first Trump real estate project in Qatar with Qatari Diar, which is owned by the Qatari government, and Saudi Arabian development company Dar Global. Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also has extensive business dealings in the Middle East. Mr Kushner's investment company Affinity Partners received $2bn of initial investment from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund in its early stages and then secured more than $1.5bn from the UAE and Qatar last year. Mr Painter, who is a professor of law at the University of Minnesota, said: 'I can't prove that they're going to influence the President's decisions, but you can tell that he sees those that do business with him as his friends, that's just the way it is. But it looks terrible. 'It looks like the way you are going to conduct diplomacy with Donald Trump is by doing business with his family. This idea of your family cutting deals while you're on a diplomatic mission, it makes it look like everybody's on the take.' Under what is known as the 'emoluments clause' in the US constitution, any person holding government office must not accept any emolument (a fee or profit) or gift from a sovereign state without congressional approval. However, the rule does not extend to family members. Mr Painter said: 'It's a workaround of the emoluments clause, it is a type of corruption the founders of our country did not want and it looks terrible.' He also criticised former president Joe Biden for setting a precedent by allowing his son, Hunter Biden, to take a role on the board of one of Ukraine's largest gas companies. The Trump family's involvement in crypto also mean they stand to benefit from Mr Trump's policies on digital currencies. The Senate is preparing to pass Mr Trump's Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (Genius) Act, governing how some cryptocurrency will be used. Democrat Senator Elizabeth Warren called the Genius Act a 'greenlight the grift'. In a video posted on X, Ms Warren said: 'This is a bill that will make it even easier for the President and his family to profit off their own stable coin.' Mr Trump has denied that he has any conflicts of interest because he has resigned from his roles in his businesses and has handed over management to his children. A White House spokesman said: 'President Trump's assets are in a trust managed by his children. There are no conflicts of interest.' World Liberty Financial, the Trump Organisation and Affinity Partners were contacted for a comment. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
05-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Trump's business conflicts ‘worst since there were slave owners in the White House'
Donald Trump's conflicts of interest are the worst since there were slave owners in the White House, a former presidential ethics adviser has said. Richard Painter, who was chief White House ethics lawyer from 2005-2007, said Mr Trump's business empire – spanning hotels, real estate, crypto currency and social media – meant he was more compromised than any president in post-Civil War history. Mr Painter, who served under President George Bush, told The Telegraph: 'The financial conflicts of interest of the president himself are unprecedented in our country, at least since the Civil War. 'Some of our earlier presidents had financial conflicts of interests with plantations, but not since then, until Donald Trump came along.' At least 13 presidents owned slaves at some point during their lifetimes, according to the White House Historical Association, including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Mr Trump's conflicts of interests are even worse than during his first term, Mr Painter added. The president's business empire has expanded beyond hotels and golf clubs to include the cryptocurrency venture World Liberty Financial – which the Trump family has a majority holding in – and the social media site Truth Social. Last week World Liberty Financial announced that a fund backed by Abu Dhabi was planning to make a $2bn (£1.5bn) transaction using one of its digital currencies, in a move that is expected to generate revenues for the Trump family. The deal comes less than two weeks before Mr Trump's state visit to the Middle East – which will see him travel to the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The Trump Organisation, which is managed by Eric Trump, also recently announced a deal to build the first Trump real estate project in Qatar with Qatari Diar, which is owned by the Qatari government, and Saudi Arabian development company Dar Global. Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also has extensive business dealings in the Middle East. Mr Kushner's investment company Affinity Partners received $2bn of initial investment from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund in its early stages and then secured more than $1.5bn from the UAE and Qatar last year. 'Type of corruption' Mr Painter, who is a professor of law at the University of Minnesota, said: 'I can't prove that they're going to influence the President's decisions, but you can tell that he sees those that do business with him as his friends, that's just the way it is. But it looks terrible. 'It looks like the way you are going to conduct diplomacy with Donald Trump is by doing business with his family. This idea of your family cutting deals while you're on a diplomatic mission, it makes it look like everybody's on the take.' Under what is known as the 'emoluments clause' in the US constitution, any person holding government office must not accept any emolument (a fee or profit) or gift from a sovereign state without congressional approval. However, the rule does not extend to family members. Mr Painter said: 'It's a workaround of the emoluments clause, it is a type of corruption the founders of our country did not want and it looks terrible.' He also criticised former president Joe Biden for setting a precedent by allowing his son, Hunter Biden, to take a role on the board of one of Ukraine's largest gas companie s. The Trump family's involvement in crypto also mean they stand to benefit from Mr Trump's policies on digital currencies. The Senate is preparing to pass Mr Trump's Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (Genius) Act, governing how some cryptocurrency will be used. Democrat Senator Elizabeth Warren called the Genius Act a 'greenlight the grift'. In a video posted on X, Ms Warren said: 'This is a bill that will make it even easier for the President and his family to profit off their own stable coin.' Donald Trump's latest corruption? A $2 BILLION stablecoin deal with a foreign crypto company that will benefit the Trump family business. And it gets worse — the Senate is getting ready to bless this kind of grift. But it's not too late to make changes. Here's the latest: — Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) May 1, 2025 Mr Trump has denied that he has any conflicts of interest because he has resigned from his roles in his businesses and has handed over management to his children. A White House spokesman said: 'President Trump's assets are in a trust managed by his children. There are no conflicts of interest.'
Time of India
01-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Trump company strikes Qatari golf resort deal in sign it's not holding back from foreign business
The Trump family company struck a deal Wednesday to build a luxury golf resort in Qatar in a sign it has no plans to hold back from foreign dealmaking during a second Trump administration, despite the danger of a president shaping US public policy for personal financial gain. The project, which features Trump-branded beachside villas and an 18-hole golf course to be built by a Saudi Arabian company, is the first foreign deal by the Trump Organisation since Donald Trump took office and unlike any done in his first term. Back then, he forswore foreign deals in an extraordinary press conference surrounded by stacks of legal documents as he pledged to avoid even the appearance of conflict of interest. #Pahalgam Terrorist Attack Nuclear Power! How India and Pakistan's arsenals stack up Does America have a plan to capture Pakistan's nuclear weapons? Airspace blockade: India plots a flight path to skip Pakistan Noah Bookbinder, president of a watchdog group that has sued Trump for alleged ethics violations, blasted the Qatari deal. "You want a president making decisions that are in the best interest of the United States, not his bottom line," said Bookbinder, who leads Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Husband Calls the Police after Discovering the Shocking Truth About His Wife's Dog Obsession Happy in Shape Undo In addition to a Saudi Arabian partner, called Dar Global, the planned resort north of the Qatari capital of Doha will be developed by a Qatari company called Qatari Diar, which is owned by the Qatari government. That would appear to violate the Trump Organization's much weaker, second-term ethics pledge that, while it would pursue foreign deals, none would include foreign governments. When asked for clarification, the Trump Organisation said its deal was with the Saudi firm, not the Qatari one, though Trump's son Eric, who is in charge of the business, mentioned both companies in an earlier statement. Live Events "We are incredibly proud to expand the Trump brand into Qatar through this exceptional collaboration with Qatari Diar and Dar Global," he said. The deal Wednesday for the Trump International Golf Club and Trump Villas is unlikely to be the last of its kind. It follows several other deals made before Trump was sworn in, including one for a golf resort in Vietnam late last year with a firm with ties to the Communist Party. The deals have drawn outrage from government watchdogs but mostly silence from Trump's fellow Republicans in Congress. The Associated Press reached out to the two Republicans who chair the foreign relations committees in the Senate and House, Sen. James Risch of Idaho and Rep. Brian Mast of Florida, but neither responded. Any deal with Saudi Arabia is seen as especially problematic in foreign policy circles. Trump's close ties to Saudi Arabia's crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, drew heavy criticism in his first term after the 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi columnist for The Washington Post who had written critically about the monarchy. Khashoggi is believed to have been dismembered, a killing that the U.S. intelligence community concluded was approved by the crown prince. The deal on Wednesday with the Saudi firm Dar Global, a London-based international arm of developer Dar Al Arkan, follows deals with it for two Riyadh projects in December. Dar Global is not owned by the Saudi government, but it has close ties to the royal Saudi family. Another government tie to Trump is through his son-in-law Jared Kushner. The Saudi sovereign wealth fund has reportedly invested $2 billion in an investment fund run by Kushner. And the Saudi government-backed LIV Golf has hosted tournaments at Trump's Doral resort near Miami. Despite Trump's pledge in his first term to not make moves that would appear to conflict with his personal financial holdings and business, he ended up opening the doors to all sorts of potential pay-to-play deals. His hotel down the street from the White House hosted scores of corporate lobbyists, CEOs, members of Congress and diplomats. Trump once suggested holding a G7 meeting of global leaders at Doral before he backed down after an outcry over ethics concerns. Several lawsuits were filed against the first Trump administration, alleging it violated the emoluments clause of the US Constitution, which bans a president from accepting gifts or payments from foreign or domestic governments. One case was appealed to the Supreme Court but was never heard because Trump had already left the presidency at that point and the issue was moot. This time, the hotel is gone, sold to a Miami investment firm, but other sources of potential conflicts of interest have emerged. The Trump Organization also owns much of the publicly traded parent company of social media platform Truth Social, which allows Trump to financially benefit from traffic to the site where his postings as US president are widely followed. The family also has a stake in a cybercurrency trading platform called World Liberty Financial as Trump has pushed for less regulatory oversight on cybercurrencies. (AP) AMS
