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S. African official re-denies World Cup bribe allegations

Xinhua, June 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

South African Minister of Sports and Recreation Fikile Mbalula reiterated his stance on Wednesday that the country did not offer bribes for votes during the bidding process of the 2010 World Cup.

Mbalula said that the amount of money was a fully-approved payment by government to support football among the African diaspora in the Caribbean.

"The fact that a payment of 10-million-dollar was made to an approved program above board does not equate to bribery," said Mbalula.

"Those who allege should prove their allegations," added the minister.

The FIFA corruption scandal broke last week in which it was alleged that former FIFA vice president Jack Warner solicited a 10-million dollars payment from South Africa in order to help winning the host of 2010 World Cup .

South African Football Association strongly rebutted of that in a statement last Wednesday shortly after the U.S. authorities declared the allegations.

"These corruption and racketeering charges have got nothing to do with the actual 2010 World Cup. At the moment the details are sketchy, but the charges mainly pertain to the service providers and broadcasting rights," explained the SAFA statement. Endi