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Former SAfrican president issues denial in WCup bid scandal

Phila Mombombo, a South African Kaizer Chiefs soccer club supporter, and World Cup Soccer supporter holds a newspaper headlining recent bribery allegations against local soccer officials, at his home in Khayelitsha, South Africa, Thursday, May 28, 2015. The image of South Africa’s 2010 World Cup has been shattered by allegations that its bid over a decade ago was involved in bribes of more than $10 million to secure FIFA votes _ possibly with the knowledge or involvement of the South African government. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam) Phila Mombombo, a South African Kaizer Chiefs soccer club supporter, and World Cup Soccer supporter holds a newspaper headlining recent bribery allegations against local soccer officials, at his home in Khayelitsha, South Africa, Thursday, May 28, 2015. The image of South Africa’s 2010 World Cup has been shattered by allegations that its bid over a decade ago was involved in bribes of more than $10 million to secure FIFA votes _ possibly with the knowledge or involvement of the South African government. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)

By Associated Press June 1, 2015 1 min read

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) – Former South African President Thabo Mbeki denied his government paid bribes to secure the 2010 World Cup as the bid scandal began to encroach on the very top of the country’s leadership.

Mbeki’s statement came as South African soccer head and former 2010 bid leader Danny Jordaan reportedly told a newspaper that $10 million was paid to former FIFA vice president Jack Warner’s regional confederation in 2008.

According to the Sunday Independent newspaper, Jordaan denied that money – referred to in the U.S. Department of Justice’s indictment into corruption in FIFA – was a bribe from South Africa via FIFA for Warner’s backing.

Mbeki, who was president at the time of the 2004 bid, said in a statement that his government “would never have paid any bribe even if it were solicited.”