2010 WC key figure terms bribe allegations against S. Africa 'worrisome'

A key figure in South Africa's football World Cup bid, Tokyo Sexwale, has gone against the government by suggesting that there might be some truth to the claims of a bribe being given to FIFA for securing the hosting rights for the 2010 edition of the tournament.

According to BBC, he said the allegations made by the US were worrisome.

The government says that it had paid USD 10 million to the accounts controlled by the then FIFA vice-president Jack Warner to support football development in the Caribbean.

However, an official said that the money transferred by FIFA was given without conditions.

Sexwale, who has been former Robben Island prisoner, government minister, and a member of both the World Cup bid team and local organising committee, openly questioned the credibility of the claim, asking for the documents, the invoices, the budgets, the BBC reported.

He also said that if the proofs were not there, then they are going to leave the FBI [US Federal Bureau of Investigation] interpretation intact.

The awarding of the 2010 edition of the World Cup to South Africa came into the spotlight after FIFA ex-official Chuck Blazer admitted that that he and others on the executive committee had agreed to accept bribes for choosing the African nation as the host.

He also accepted that he arranged for bribes to be paid for the 1998 event as well.