South Africa rejects FIFA's $10m World Cup bribe claims

South Africa

South Africa has rejected claims by world football governing body, FIFA; that it paid a $10 million bribe to win the right to host the 2010 World Cup.

Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula said on Thursday monies were not meant for bribery.

“We have maintained our position that when we supported the money in the diaspora and the disbursement of that 10 million US dollars, it was not for bribery. It was above board, it was not done underground and that is the first point we need to clear,” he told a news conference in Cape Town.

MbalulaFikile Minister Mbalula taken aback by FIFA sanctions https://t.co/Ub76vXP5xW
— SA Gov News (SAgovnews) March 17, 2016

FIFA he insisted, must review its stance of seeking restitution in U.S. courts from former FIFA executive committee members it said had accepted bribes in the awarding of World Cup hosting rights.

“We gave this money and supported SAFA (South African Football Association) for the disbursement of the resources on the basis that this money was for development and the fact that at a later stage it came to our attention that it was not used for its intended purposes and in fact it was embezzled and misused and subjected to fraudulent…. it never even reached its destination, it is something that we frown at.”