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Cape Town - Scottish investigative reporter, Andrew Jennings, insists that South Africa hired a private investigator to probe FIFA during their 2010 Soccer World Cup bid.
Read: Mbalula issues statement on 2010 SWC scandal
Sport24 reported that South African officials paid more than $10 million (R120 million) in bribes to host the 2010 World Cup and handed over a briefcase with $10 000 stacks of banknotes in Paris, a US indictment alleged on Wednesday.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch said executives from soccer's governing body FIFA took bribes in exchange for voting for South Africa to become the first African nation to host the tournament.
In a telephonic interview with SABC News, Jennings said South Africa (SWC bidding committee and government) knew about the bribes, but never spoke a word of it.
“So South Africa, who weren’t taking money, who weren’t taking bribes, but (knew) they never said a word,” said Jennings.
Jennings further stated that South Africa “sucked up to Sepp Blatter” as well as CAF president, Issa Hayatou.
The reporter, who is the author of the book titled, FOUL! The Secret World of FIFA: Bribes, Vote-Rigging and Ticket Scandals, states that through hiring a private investigator, the end outcome was that no one was taking or giving money to any officials.
“I had the feeling when South Africa was bidding that they weren’t paying, that there was an instruction in the government, 'we don’t pay - you either like us, and come here or you don’t.'
“And I know South African government - in secret - hired a private investigator to look into FIFA and see if anybody was paying anybody and he came out with a view that South Africa wasn’t paying,” according to Jennings.
