S. Africans deserve answers on alleged World Cup corruption: opposition
Xinhua, June 2, 2015 Adjust font size:
The opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) on Monday pressed the South Africans Football Association (SAFA) for clarity on alleged corruption surrounding the 2010 World Cup.
This came after President of SAFA Danny Jordaan confirmed on Sunday that an amount of 10 million US dollars was indeed paid to the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), but claimed that this money was to support their football development fund and was not a bribe.
"The revelations of alleged corruption do not discount South Africa's achievement of hosting a very successful World Cup (in 2010). However South Africans deserve to know if money changed hands improperly in our name," said Solomon Malatsi, DA Shadow Minister of Sport and Recreation.
He said the DA will be asking a series of Parliamentary questions to get clarity on the issue.
South Africans want to know why $10 million was paid to the CONCACAF in 2008 by the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) and which South African representative authorized the payment from FIFA to CONCACAF on behalf of South Africa, Malatsi said.
Other questions include:
-- With whom did this representative communicate at FIFA to authorize the payment?
-- Why was this money allocated to CONCACAF out of all the world football confederations, including the Confederation of African Football?
"We will also be submitting questions to get clarity on which members of the LOC made trips to Paris in 2004. This could establish the identity of the 'high-ranking South African bid committee official' who handed over a briefcase full of cash to a family member of Jack Warner, at a Paris hotel as a bribe to secure his vote for South Africa to host the World Cup in 2010," Malatsi said.
The 2010 World Cup is, and will remain, one of South Africa's shining achievements but it is vitally important to interrogate if corruption was involved in this event, he said.
"South Africans should not have to wait for answers from the FBI when officials accountable to us should be telling us the truth," Malatsi added.
South Africa's Sports and Recreation Minister Fikile Mbalula last week dismissed allegations that the government paid bribes to host of the Soccer World Cup 2010.
South Africa has been sucked in the FIFA scandal which led to the arrest of seven people in Switzerland last Wednesday.
It had been alleged that South Africa paid 10 million US dollars in kickbacks for hosting the event.
Mbalula said his department is yet to receive a copy of the allegations from the United States and promised to do everything in its powers to unearth any shenanigans.
"South Africa's Department of Sports and Recreation hereby indicates that all funding by government was transferred via the National Treasury to the national Department of Sports and Recreation and that no such amount was paid by the department Sport and Recreation and the government of SA to any individual," he said. Endite