S.African football federation denies World Cup 2010 bribe charges
PRETORIA. KAZINFORM - The South African Football Association (SAFA) won the right to host the 2010 World Cup due to its 'best bid', SAFA director of communications Dominic Chimhavi said on Thursday denying any bribe charges filed by the US Justice Department.
"We submitted the best bid. Why should we give bribes? We did everything over the board," Chimhavi told TASS.
He recalled that South Africa had lost the 2006 World Cup bid to Germany.
"We drew conclusions, improved the bid and won," he said.
US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said on Wednesday that the former FIFA vice president, Jack Warner, received $10 million in bribes from the South African government to host the 2010 World Cup. Warner issued a statement saying he is innocent of any charges. Warner is among nine officials and five sports media and promotions executives facing corruption charges involving more than $150 million in bribes, Kazinform refers to TASS.