Mbalula still insists $10m was not a Fifa vote bribe
by Nick Said,
2016-03-18 05:00:00.0
SPORT Minister Fikile Mbalula has reiterated the South African government’s stance that it did not pay a bribe to win votes to host the Fifa World Cup in 2010.
He says he will seek a meeting with new Fifa president Gianni Infantino and the organisation’s lawyers to give SA’s view of the intention of the $10m SA paid to the Africa Diaspora Legacy Project headed by former Fifa vice-president and Caribbean administrator Jack Warner. At the same time, he criticised Fifa for its claims, which he said cast a dark light on a successful 2010 World Cup.
"Fifa has inflicted reputational damage of monumental proportions on this country and we believe Fifa must retract its statement," Mr Mbalula said.
He was responding to a Fifa statement on Wednesday that it would claim restitution for bribes paid in the awarding of a succession of world cups, including the $10m mentioned in a US indictment from the FBI.
The allegation by US investigators is that the money ended up in the personal bank account of Mr Warner and was in fact a bribe to win votes from the region as SA edged Morocco for the right to host the 2010 tournament.
"It was a resolution of the South African government, with Fifa, to support the diaspora and that is why it is on our plate," Mbalula said on Thursday. "It was our policy to support our African brothers around the world in projects based around the World Cup."
SA could not be held responsible for what happened to the money once it reached the Caribbean, he said.
Fikile Mbalula. Picture: SOWETAN
SPORT Minister Fikile Mbalula has reiterated the South African government’s stance that it did not pay a bribe to win votes to host the Fifa World Cup in 2010.
He says he will seek a meeting with new Fifa president Gianni Infantino and the organisation’s lawyers to give SA’s view of the intention of the $10m SA paid to the Africa Diaspora Legacy Project headed by former Fifa vice-president and Caribbean administrator Jack Warner. At the same time, he criticised Fifa for its claims, which he said cast a dark light on a successful 2010 World Cup.
"Fifa has inflicted reputational damage of monumental proportions on this country and we believe Fifa must retract its statement," Mr Mbalula said.
He was responding to a Fifa statement on Wednesday that it would claim restitution for bribes paid in the awarding of a succession of world cups, including the $10m mentioned in a US indictment from the FBI.
The allegation by US investigators is that the money ended up in the personal bank account of Mr Warner and was in fact a bribe to win votes from the region as SA edged Morocco for the right to host the 2010 tournament.
"It was a resolution of the South African government, with Fifa, to support the diaspora and that is why it is on our plate," Mbalula said on Thursday. "It was our policy to support our African brothers around the world in projects based around the World Cup."
SA could not be held responsible for what happened to the money once it reached the Caribbean, he said.
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