Yahoo – AFP,
Agnes Pedrero, 31 May 2015
 |
FIFA
president Sepp Blatter on May 30, 2015 in Zurich after being
re-elected (AFP
Photo/Fabrice Coffrini)
|
Geneva
(AFP) - South Africa admitted Sunday that it paid $10 million in 2008 but
denied it was in any way a bribe to FIFA for the 2010 World Cup, in the latest
twist to the massive corruption scandal engulfing world football's governing
body.
Two
separate investigations are being carried out by American and Swiss authorities
for alleged rampant and long-running corruption within FIFA, with several top
officials arrested and accused by US investigators of taking tens of millions
of dollars in bribes.
Several top
football officials have been questioned by Swiss investigators, Bern said, and
FIFA's president Sepp Blatter too could be quizzed "in the future if
needed", according to Swiss prosecutors.
The biggest
scandal to rock world football erupted Wednesday when seven FIFA officials were
arrested in their Zurich hotel as part of the US probe.
They and
seven others were charged for racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering
conspiracies that ran from 1991 to present day, and accused of taking or conspiring
to solicit for $150 million in bribes.
An example
cited in US papers was the 2004 selection process for the 2010 World Cup, with
investigators claiming that South African officials paid $10 million to former
FIFA vice president Jack Warner -- one of the 14 indicted -- in order to secure
the bid.
 |
South
African Football Association president Danny Jordaan, pictured on
May 28, 2015,
confirmed that the World Cup organising committee paid
$10 million in 2008,
after South Africa won the bid in May 2004 but
insisted this was not a bribe
(AFP Photo)
|
South
African Football Association president Danny Jordaan confirmed on Sunday that
the organising committee made a payment of $10 million in 2008 but insisted
this was not a bribe.
"I
haven't paid a bribe or taken a bribe from anybody in my life. We don't know
who is mentioned there (in the indictment)," Jordaan told the Sunday
Independent.
"How
could we have paid a bribe for votes four years after we had won the bid?"
Jordaan said, adding that the payment was South Africa's contribution towards
Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football's
(CONCACAF) football development fund.
Warner was
then also president of CONCACAF.
'Out of
touch'
Swiss
authorities were meanwhile running a parallel probe into allegations of bribery
in the process over the controversial awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups
to Russia and Qatar.
The Swiss
justice spokesman said the top football officials were interviewed as
"people who could provide information", without giving further
details.
 |
FIFA
President Sepp Blatter (L) shakes hands with UEFA President
Michel Platini
after being re-elected, in Zurich on May 29, 2015 (AFP Photo/
Michael Buholzer)
|
He added
that Blatter "will not be questioned at this stage. If necessary, he will
be in the future".
Seven
senior FIFA officials are believed to be among those heard by investigators --
Confederation of African Football (CAF) president Issa Hayatou (Cameroon),
Angel Miguel Villar Llona (Spain), Michel D'Hooge (Belgium), Senes Erzik
(Turkey), Marios Lefkaritis (Cyprus), Hany Abo Rida (Egypt) and Vitaly Mutko
(Russia).
Two other
current members of the Executive Committee who voted in 2010 for Qatar and
Russia live in Switzerland -- Blatter and UEFA president Michel Platini.
Swiss
investigators were believed to be prioritising those living abroad as they were
in town for a FIFA meeting on Saturday.
Blatter,
who was re-elected to a fifth term as FIFA president on Friday despite the
worst scandal to hit the organisation, has accused US investigators of using the
arrests as an attempt "interfere with the congress" that returned him
to power.
The
79-year-old Swiss has argued that while many hold him "ultimately
responsible for actions and reputation of the global football community",
he "cannot monitor everyone all of the time".
In an
interview published Sunday by Swiss tabloid SonntagsBlick, Blatter said he
"has been treated with zero respect" in the last few days.
He also
said he was "very disappointed" by Platini, who has openly asked him
to step down from the top job.
Platini has
said UEFA will review relations with FIFA on June 6 while English Football
Association chief Greg Dyke indicated England could be ready to back a European
boycott of the World Cup.
German
Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier insisted FIFA must make a new start
following Blatter's re-election and said football's governing body was out of
touch with the sport it serves.
"I
have serious doubts that FIFA will be able to handle this massive task without
making a serious new start," he told German daily Die Welt on Sunday.
"The
gap between the machinations of their officials and the many players, coaches,
parents, referees and fans around the world, who with a lot of passion, ensure
every week that football lives, could not be greater."
 |
Barclays
has launched an internal review into whether its accounts were used
for corrupt
payments by FIFA officials, a banking source told AFP on May 31,
2015 (AFP
Photo/Carl Court)
|
In
underlining the far-reaching nature of the scandal, British bank Barclays
announced it had launched an internal review into whether its accounts were
used for corrupt payments by FIFA officials, a banking source told AFP.
Barclays
was among three banks with British headquarters named in the US indictment,
which outlined how tens of millions of dollars were hidden in offshore
accounts.
Another,
Standard Chartered, said Friday that it was looking into two payments cleared
by the bank that were mentioned in the indictment.
The third
named bank, HSBC, has so far declined to comment.
Britain's
Serious Fraud Office said Friday that it "continues actively to assess
material in its possession and has made plain that it stands ready to assist
ongoing international criminal investigations".
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