SA blameless - Fikile

29 May 2015 - 02:28 By Mninawa Ntloko

Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula has rebuked the US authorities for disregarding diplomatic channels and announcing South Africa's alleged involvement in the Fifa corruption scandal without telling the government first. The US attorney-general alleged on Wednesday that ''high-ranking South African officials" offered a $10-million bribe to help secure the hosting rights for the 2010 soccer World Cup.South Africa edged out Morocco for the rights in a tense vote in Zurich in May 2004.Mbalula said yesterday that the government had learned of South Africa's alleged involvement in the biggest scandal to rock world football's governing organisation through the press and not through "the proper channels, as should have been the case".Mbalula said South Africa was ''not a small fish in the world" and must be respected.''There is nothing that implicates the South African government in the $10-million transfer of bribe[s] to any individual and we reject those allegations with the contempt they deserve," Mbalula said.''We are, however, saying to the American government that we will follow up on the matter through the diplomatic channels we have activated through the Ministry of International Relations and Co-operation to establish how South Africa is implicated. Anything else is speculation."More arrests are expected as those already behind bars cut deals that expose fellow conspirators.Former Fifa vice-president Jack Warner, of Trinidad and Tobago, has emerged as a central figure in the allegations and his close ties to South Africa have now come under scrutiny.The US indictment lists two South Africans in the corruption - but refers to them only as co-conspirators "No15 and No16".The indictment alleged that they were senior figures on South Africa's 2006 and 2010 World Cup bid committees.Mbalula said the allegations had the potential to tarnish South Africa's image and affect the country's chances of hosting other big sporting events.Durban is bidding to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games. A decision will be announced on September 2...

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