Fifa: Valcke is innocent, Grondona approved payment
World football governing body Fifa claim secretary general Jerome Valcke was not involved in the $10-million payment allegedly made to secure the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
The New York Times reports that Valcke was responsible for transferring the fee to Concacaf as a bribe for securing the 2010 world showpiece, yet Fifa have since issued a statement in defence of their secretary general.
“In 2007, as part of the 2010 Fifa World Cup, the South African Government approved a USD 10m project to support the African diaspora in Caribbean countries as part of the World Cup legacy,” a Fifa statement read.
“At the request of the South African Government, and in agreement with the South African Football Association (Safa), Fifa was asked to process the project’s funding by withholding USD 10m from the Local Organising Committee’s (LOC) operational budget and using that to finance the Diaspora Legacy Programme.
“Safa instructed Fifa that the Diaspora Legacy Programme should be administered and implemented directly by the President of Concacaf who at that time was deputy chairman of the Finance Committee and who should act as the fiduciary of the Diaspora Legacy Programme Fund of USD 10m.
“The payments totalling USD 10m were authorised by the then chairman of the Finance Committee [the late Julio Grondona, who passed away in July 2014] and executed in accordance with the Organisation Regulations of FIFA.
“Fifa did not incur any costs as a result of South Africa’s request because the funds belonged to the LOC. Both the LOC and Safa adhered to the necessary formalities for the budgetary amendment.
“Neither the secretary general Jerome Valcke nor any other member of FIFA’s senior management were involved in the initiation, approval and implementation of the above project.”
South African sports minister Fikile Mbalula insists the government was involved in no wrong-doing in hosting the Mundial five years ago.
