FIFA scandal: SAFA responds to bribery allegations

The South African Football Association (SAFA) has finally responded to the bribery allegations surrounding the awarding of the hosting rights of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

SAFA issued a memorandum in response to requests for clarity from many of its members to the announcement of the US Attorney General, Sport24 reported.

The memorandum said that the new narrative issued by the US Attorney General casts the country's inclusion of the African Diaspora as morally wrong, sinister and therefore criminal in nature and it also suggests that the leaders in the then Local Organising Committee and the Government conspired to bribe their way to hosting the World Cup.

SAFA said that the claims were meant to tarnish the image of the country by suggesting that their support for the African Diaspora program was wrong and that it was not an approved project.

It also rejected the allegations that it had paid USD 10 million as a bribe in exchange of vote and there was something sinister with the way they won the hosting rights of the tournament.

SAFA's response has come after Ex-FIFA official Chuck Blazer has admitted that he and others who were on the executive committee, had agreed to accept bribes for choosing South Africa as the host of the 2010 World Cup.