Francesca Villette and Lisa Isaacs
THE SA Football Association (Safa) has remained silent on the biggest corruption scandal involving how the country landed the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
Several attempts to reach Safa spokesman Dominic Chimhavi yesterday were futile.
Safa president Danny Jordaan and vice-president Elvis Shishana could also not be reached for comment.
Yesterday, Jordaan was elected as the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro mayor. Safa previously dismissed insinuations that the association had offered bribes to win the bid.
On Wednesday, the FBI arrested nine high-ranking Fifa officials, including Fifa vice-president Jack Warner, for allegedly receiving bribes of about $150 million (R1.8bn). The FBI’s indictment said that Warner and his family had previously cultivated ties with South African soccer officials.
It goes on to allege that months before the 2010 World Cup host selection, Warner and a co-conspirator travelled to Morocco, where a representative of the Moroccan bid committee offered $1m for Warner to vote for Morocco to host the event.
Subsequently it said that Fifa officials, the South African government and local bid committee (LOC) were prepared to arrange for the government to pay $10m to the Caribbean Football Union for them to “support the African diaspora”.
While the Hawks have not been involved in the investigation, Hawks spokesperson Hangwani Mulaudzi said: “Our investigations would need to follow a request from the FBI, which we have not received.”
An FBI spokesperson yesterday refused further comment regarding the investigation. Fifa president Sepp Blatter, who was not charged, said the scandal had shamed football.
Blatter rejected Uefa president Michel Platini’s calls yesterday for him to resign. Former Manchester United chief executive David Gill, who was due to take up a vice-presidency on the Fifa committee yesterday, said he would not take up the position if Blatter won at the Fifa presidential election again.
Department of Sport and Recreation spokesperson Esethu Hasane said their financial record showed everything was clean.
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At the close of the books of the LOC, government received the close- out report, including audited financial statements,” said Hasane
Hasane said the financial statements were unqualified and the audit opinion fairly represented the financial position and compliance with the accounting policies of the LOC.
“In the interest of transparency, government also finalised its own close-out report, which was approved by cabinet and duly released to the public in early 2012,” Hasane said.