Safa did not pay a bribe to secure 2010 — Danny Jordaan
by Staff Writer
2016-06-29 11:16:24.0
DANNY Jordaan says he and the South African Football Association (Safa) "worked hard" and did not pay a $10m bribe to secure the rights to host the 2010 World Cup.
"I have not done a corrupt thing in my life‚" he insisted‚ before telling the interviewer: "Don’t cast aspersions."
Jordaan‚ who is the ANC mayoral candidate for the Nelson Mandela Bay metro‚ led the bid for the World Cup.
Nelson Mandela‚ and not bribery‚ he told Eyewitness News (EWN) in an interview published on Wednesday‚ had clinched the rights to host the tournament in SA.
"Neither the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) nor Fifa has ever said that SA bought the World Cup with bribes. It is an insult to Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu‚" Jordaan said.
"Look at the indictment. There is not a single South African name mentioned there‚" he added.
He also took aim at local media for pursuing the claims‚ saying: "It is only South Africans that raise this.
"I don’t want to say that is a white media in the country ... but it’s a fact. And we must move away from that thing ... when we know there is no factual basis."
He also claimed to have a letter from Fifa saying it was the best "World Cup ever".
The Sunday Times reported in May 2015 on a letter that was sent from SA to Fifa headquarters "instructing" the world governing body to pay $10m to a Caribbean football union.
The letter was signed by then Safa president Molefi Oliphant. "In it Oliphant tells Fifa to pay over the money — about R120m at today’s rates — to the Caribbean Football Union‚" reported the Sunday Times.
Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula has denied that bribes were paid to win the right to host the 2010 World Cup.
Nelson Mandela Bay will be fiercely contested territory during the upcoming local government elections. Jordaan is confident that the metro will be retained by the ANC.
In the interview, Jordaan also defended his appointment of controversial former prisons boss Linda Mti as the metro’s security head.
TMG Digital
Danny Jordaan. Picture: SOWETAN
DANNY Jordaan says he and the South African Football Association (Safa) "worked hard" and did not pay a $10m bribe to secure the rights to host the 2010 World Cup.
"I have not done a corrupt thing in my life‚" he insisted‚ before telling the interviewer: "Don’t cast aspersions."
Jordaan‚ who is the ANC mayoral candidate for the Nelson Mandela Bay metro‚ led the bid for the World Cup.
Nelson Mandela‚ and not bribery‚ he told Eyewitness News (EWN) in an interview published on Wednesday‚ had clinched the rights to host the tournament in SA.
"Neither the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) nor Fifa has ever said that SA bought the World Cup with bribes. It is an insult to Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu‚" Jordaan said.
"Look at the indictment. There is not a single South African name mentioned there‚" he added.
He also took aim at local media for pursuing the claims‚ saying: "It is only South Africans that raise this.
"I don’t want to say that is a white media in the country ... but it’s a fact. And we must move away from that thing ... when we know there is no factual basis."
He also claimed to have a letter from Fifa saying it was the best "World Cup ever".
The Sunday Times reported in May 2015 on a letter that was sent from SA to Fifa headquarters "instructing" the world governing body to pay $10m to a Caribbean football union.
The letter was signed by then Safa president Molefi Oliphant. "In it Oliphant tells Fifa to pay over the money — about R120m at today’s rates — to the Caribbean Football Union‚" reported the Sunday Times.
Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula has denied that bribes were paid to win the right to host the 2010 World Cup.
Nelson Mandela Bay will be fiercely contested territory during the upcoming local government elections. Jordaan is confident that the metro will be retained by the ANC.
In the interview, Jordaan also defended his appointment of controversial former prisons boss Linda Mti as the metro’s security head.
TMG Digital
