Malaga CF owner's son Rakan Al-Thani arrested in Germany

His detention follows a European arrest warrant issued in July by Investigating Court No. 11 as part of a criminal investigation into the Al-Thani family's management of the club, with alleged offences including misappropriation, disloyal administration and the imposition of abusive agreements.

According to information obtained by this newspaper, the arrest took place at 4pm on Saturday at Munich Airport, before Rakan was due to board flight QR058 to Doha, Qatar. The arrest was reported on Monday to the judge overseeing the case and the parties involved in the proceedings.

Rakan is one of Al-Thani's three sons and kept a lower profile than his brothers Nayef and Nasser during his time on the Costa del Sol. He was a member of Malaga's board of directors while his father was at the helm of the club.

However, no member of the family has been seen in Malaga since the judicial administration of the club began in February 2020 under José María Muñoz.

Rakan's arrest comes after the Spanish investigation into the Al-Thani family's stewardship of the club reached its conclusion.

The authorities had been seeking to notify the family before a trial date is set. However, their whereabouts, until now, were unknown and they have not appointed lawyers, meaning the authorities have been unable to communicate the latest developments to them.

In recent days, it has also emerged that Rakan's brother Nasser failed to pay a bill of more than 500,000 euros at the Dorchester hotel in London. However, the international search order was not activated in connection with that incident.

The fact that the United Kingdom is outside the European Union may have been a factor, if the international alert had not been properly circulated to certain territories. Another possibility is that Nasser's failure to pay occurred before the order was issued, after which it was forwarded to the Schengen Information System, the Sirene Bureau and Interpol.

Investigating Court No. 14 in Malaga, which is handling the case, has now ordered the arrest and surrender warrant issued against Rakan to be translated into German. A court order also records submissions made by the parties acting as private prosecutors in the proceedings, including Management Empresarial Málaga, S.L., Malaga city hall and the APA (the Association of Small Shareholders of Malaga).

Once the documentation has been received, the competent judicial authorities in Germany will decide whether to execute the European arrest warrant and whether Rakan should subsequently be surrendered to the Spanish authorities.