Former FIFA Vice President Jack Warner solicited $10-million in bribes from the South African government to host the 2010 World Cup, the U.S. Justice Department said. Warner issued a statement saying he is innocent of any charges.ANDREA DE SILVA/Reuters
Faced with devastating bribery allegations over the 2010 World Cup, the South African government has brushed aside the U.S. criminal indictment as mere "speculation" and pushed ahead with a major promotion for a top soccer official at the heart of the controversy.
Many South Africans are reacting with anger and sadness to the soccer corruption scandal. Some worry that the allegations could taint the legacy of anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela, who had campaigned hard for the World Cup. His charm and charisma were often credited with winning the campaign, but the U.S. indictment says the real reason was a $10-million bribe. There is no suggestion that Mr. Mandela knew about the government's alleged bribery.
In its first responses to the scandal on Thursday, the South African government flatly denied any knowledge of any bribes to the world soccer body FIFA. Its sports minister indignantly demanded that the U.S. authorities must "respect" the "sovereignty" of South Africa.
The government refused to cancel a key promotion for Danny Jordaan, the leader of South Africa's bids for the 2006 and 2010 World Cups and later the head of the 2010 World Cup organizing committee. He was sworn into office on Thursday as mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay, a major coastal city, also known as Port Elizabeth.
According to the 162-page U.S. indictment, two unnamed "high-ranking officials" of the South African bid committees and organizing committee were "co-conspirators" in the bribery scheme. If the allegations are true, it would be difficult to believe that Mr. Jordaan was completely unaware of the corruption.
Mr. Jordaan refused to comment on the allegations on Thursday, but Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula ridiculed the indictment as a "Hollywood" fantasy and showed little interest in digging into the many pages of evidence from the year-long investigation by the U.S. Justice Department. At a press conference, he complained that the indictment "could tarnish the image of our country."
Mr. Mbalula said the government has ordered its bid committee and organizing committee officials to refrain from commenting publicly because of the "national importance" of the issue. He said the U.S. police authorities "know what to do" if they want South Africa's assistance.
He also complained that he hadn't been given a copy of the indictment. But the full text of the indictment has been easily available on the Internet since Wednesday, and he didn't explain why he hadn't looked at it yet.
The sports minister denied any wrongdoing by the government and insisted that the government had not secretly "transferred" any bribes from government funds. The U.S. indictment, however, does not allege that the $10-million bribe was transferred from government funds. The money, it said, was instead diverted from scheduled FIFA payments to South Africa that had been intended to help finance the 2010 World Cup.
In addition to the $10-million bribe, the indictment said, a high-ranking South African official also flew to Paris and gave a briefcase full of U.S. cash to a family member of FIFA vice-president Jack Warner, with the cash stacked in bundles of $10,000.
The opposition Democratic Alliance said Mr. Jordaan must be summoned to a parliamentary committee to respond to the bribery allegations. "It is a national shame that one of the proudest moments for our democratic nation has been tarnished by this latest scandal," said DA member Solly Malatsi.
"A transaction of the magnitude of $10-million would not have happened without the knowledge of the most senior figures leading the country's bid for the World Cup," he said.
A South African journalist, Stephen Grootes, said the revelations of the alleged bribery scheme have "stolen something" from South Africans. "It's stolen more than a moment in time, or part of our memory as a nation, or one of the events that is part of our founding myth," he wrote on Thursday. "At a time when it can be difficult to have self-respect as a South African, they've stolen some of that too."
Mark Gleeson, a South African soccer commentator, recalled how Mr. Mandela "danced a little jig" in 2004 when South Africa won the right to host the World Cup. The latest allegations are "draining the credibility from one of South Africa's finest hours," he said.
Geoffrey York