REVEALED: The SAFA letter from Wilson Raj Perumal, master match-fixer. Not sent to Leslie Sedibe but to Kirsten Nematandani

EXCLUSIVE: This is the letter now-banned former SAFA CEO Leslie Sedibe
was waving about at his press conference today. His name does not appear. But
former SAFA President Kirsten Nematandani and Wilson Raj Perumal ARE there

EXCLUSIVE: original notes from Leslie Sedibe's FIFA interview, mentioned today
He says SAFA was dysfunctional. And that Bafana Bafana had no money or plans
for preparation. Here's what it goes on to say:

He found that with the 2010 World cup looming Bafana Bafana had no established training camp and all the main locations had been taken, the team had no warm up friendlies booked and they were running out of time to get them as most teams in the tournament had booked the best opposition already.

Mr. Sedibe went on to say that SAFA had no money at this time and few major sponsors even though they were hosting the world cup.

He felt he needed to concentrate on fund raising for training camps and bringing in sponsors.

Mr. Sedibe recalled that early in March games had been hastily arranged against Swaziland, Namibia and Zimbabwe.

He said the bank had funded the training camp in Brazil as the Association had no money and that the team had mainly played club sides. The coach did not view this as ideal preparation for a World cup and requested another camp and against International competition, preferably against South American teams in preparation for Mexico who was to be Bafana Bafana’s opposition in the first stage of the WC.

The coach wanted a match that would be against opposition with a similar playing style and Mr. Sedibe agreed they should try to find a team that would be good opposition from South America but it proved to be quite difficult.

The team held a camp in Germany and had a game against China prepared but China pulled out at the last minute and the camp in Germany was not ideal preparation. The Team manager was deemed to be negligent and charges were listed against him. The team manager had also failed to provide a budget for the training camp after numerous requests to do so by Mr. Sedibe and the head of finance Mr. Gronie Hluyo. The team manager was removed from the training camp and pulled off the flight to Germany.

There were a number of issues Mr. Sedibe had to deal with in respect of this camp. There was no branding, matches were cancelled without notice by Bafana Bafana causing embarrassment to the sponsors Addidas who had acted to secure the team friendly matches at the last minute.

Mr. Sedibe called in Keith Darcy of KAM, a sports management company based in the UK to assist in recovering the training camp. Friendlies were arranged against Korea DPR and Jamaica.

Other international sides such as Italy, Brazil and Argentina were approached but they already had full warm up schedules.

The next camp was held in Johannesburg and again it was poor quality. Mr. Sedibe had managed to secure some funding from the Lotteries board at this time to ease the financial burden on the association but they were still in dire financial straits.

It was at this point that the approach to provide referees was made by football 4 U. The association was struggling for funding even with some money coming in from the lotteries board, the organization itself was dysfunctional and Mr. Sedibe spent most of his time away from the office working on sponsors and other revenue streams.

Mr. Sedibe did not remember Ace Kika or Steve Goddard bringing anyone to his office to discuss Football 4U, but he did not rule it out. He said it was entirely plausible but added that he would have seen any number of people and contracts through out a working day at that time, with the World cup countdown well and truly in progress.

Oh, and here's SAFA's response to the banning of Sedibe, Adeel Carelse and Steve Goddard in an official statement tonight, from Poobalan Govindsasamy, head of their Ethics Committee:

“At SAFA we have a zero-tolerance policy for any corrupt activity which impacts negatively on this beautiful game and for that reason we welcome strong measures against any individual who is found guilty of such offenses. This should serve as a warning to anyone harbouring intentions of engaging in nefarious activities within the sport that the long arm of the law will catch up with them. Be warned."

Govindsasamy, when challenged by Robert Marawa later, admitted he had no documents on the latest bannings and insisted he was NOT a paid official at SAFA. He claimed not to have been properly briefed by SAFA on the match-fixing affair. Shocking.

SEXWALE'S FIFA PRESIDENTIAL BID: Even an earth-quake won't save Tokyo on Friday

Just good friends: Blatter and Sexwale

SOUTH AFRICAN FOOTBALL will receive yet another wake-up call on Friday in Zurich. That’s when Tokyo Sexwale, despite his post-1994 millions and impeccable anti-Apartheid credentials, will embarrass the Rainbow Nation at the FIFA presidential elections.

The latest? Reports of a visit to Robben Island with Sexwale escorting rival - and one of the favourites - Gianni Infantino around his old prison off Cape Town. It's a curious game he's playing.

It's tempting to call the hastily-arranged trip a "get out of jail free card" and it may lead to Sexwale backing out of the race and telling his supporters - if there are any - to back Infantino.

Apparently Sexwale invited the other three presidential candidates too... but they were "too busy" to make the short boat trip to a grim little island offering world-wide recognition.

It’s not as if such last-minute, chaotic scenarios are rare in South African football. Having gained one point at AFCON 2015 and facing non-qualification for AFCON 2017, we should be asking serious questions about our national coach Shakes Mashaba.

Just last week I was told the story of an agent with close links to Mashaba offering an NFD goalkeeper “an automatic spot in the Rio Olympic squad” if he signed over his life.

We could wake up and ask about how the PSL can let an historic club like Moroka Swallows crumble in to nothing. Or we could arise from our slumbers and question the complete lack of crowd figures, the dodgy refs and the failure in CAF competitions too.

But SAFA, with their president doubling as the mayor of Port Elizabeth, will not act. We’ll go in to the World Cup qualifying draw after AFCON failure with Mashaba and his so-called Technical Director Neil Tovey still whittering on about “needing 4 points against Cameroon” when everyone knows we need six.

But what are we to expect? This is the same SAFA who endorsed Sexwale’s presidential bid. Their Communications Director called himself “SexwaleFan” on twitter for a few weeks, everyone flew out to the Balon D’Or and paraded about with Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula, spending millions on a few publicity shots.

But within a fortnight, the grand scenario of an African head of football was collapsing. Dominic Sexwale got rid of his twitter handle and told us: “We are worried about Sexwale’s lacklustre campaign, he doesn’t follow advice”.

CAF, with their president Issa Hayatou doubling as interim FIFA president, decided to back the highly-questionable Sheikh Salman and even SAFA were questioning the wisdom of supporting the only African candidate. The  governing ANC, unsure of how this all works, are apparently insisting SAFA vote for Sexwale. Or is that just Mbalula talking through his wallet?

Botswana, Zimbabwe and Namibia, three of the five nominees needed to get Tokyo to the starting line, have all expressed doubts about Sexwale’s campaign, which centred on international shirt sponsorship and voting deals with foreign power blocs. No mention of corruption. 

On Friday, Sepp Blatter won’t be standing for the first time in 22 years. Michel Platini, originally the natural successor, and the oily Jerome Valcke - who has South African citizenship and joint-control of our World Cup legacy fund - will be absent too. All three are banned from football activities by the shadowy ethics committee in the wake of the FBI’s exposure of FIFA’s corruption.

This “emergency election” offers little in the way of hope. It’s simply an attempt to stop football’s deeply-corrupt governing body from crumbling to dust with controversial World Cups in Russia and Qatar coming up.

Incredibly, Sexwale has managed to make himself the rank outsider among five candidates in a matter of weeks, Officially, the odds put him at 66-1 but in truth he’ll be lucky to pull more than two or three crosses next to his oft-mispronounced name.

Just nine months ago, with the FBI closing in, SAFA saw fit to send PSL chairman Irvin Khoza up ahead of Jordaan to vote for the disgraced Blatter, even as we digested the enormity of the recently-revealed $10m Africa Diaspora Fund. 

On Friday, it will be no different. Don’t expect anybody to vote for the good of football. Sheikh Salman al Khalifa, the 50-year-old from Bahrain with allegations of torture to deal with, is the unlikely favourite with most bookmakers. He runs the Asian Federation and has apparently secured Africa’s 54 votes.

Gianni Infantino is rated second favourite as he looks to keep the FIFA Presidency in Swiss hands. Once aligned with Platini, he appears to have most of the CONMEBOL and UEFA votes. The visit to Robben Island clearly shows he's desperate for a couple of CAF votes too.

Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein is third on Friday’s starting grid. Aged just 40, he’s the third son of Jordan’s late King Hussein and is apparently directly descended from the prophet Muhammed after 43 generations.

In the 2015 FIFA presidential election last May, plucky Prince Ali lost 133-73 to Blatter, and with none of the major federations  backing him this time, he’ll be lucky to get close to that this time, though personally, I think he’s the only candidate worth voting for.

Jerome Champagne, yet another candidate with a fancy name, has nearly as much chance as Sexwale of reaching double figures.

Though he has the backing of a certain elderly Brazilian named Pele, Champagne was Blatter’s campaign manager in 2002 but his “reforming agenda” is apparently just as unpopular now as it was then.

Which leaves us with Sexwale. A man with no history of football administration and beyond a few dusty kickabouts whilst in jail, no real link to the global game other than being Blatter’s right hand man on issues of racism.

The questions about how Sexwale rocketed in to political and economic stratosphere so quickly after 1994 have already begun.  They’ll subside when he loses on Friday. He ignored Africa in his bid and, in turn, Africa is ignoring him apart from Ghana’s FA chairman Kwesi Nyantakyi taking time to say: “Even I’m more competent than Sexwale.”

As in football, as in life. SAFA managed to back the one candidate doomed to failure. Yet another wake-up call for a giant in a coma. Another reason to ask: who actually runs South African football… and why?


BACKGROUND READING: Evelyn Groenink on Tokyo Sexwale. Threats, assassinations, arms deals. It's unbelievable stuff.
https://www.zammagazine.com/chronicle/chronicle-16/288-the-many-truths-of-tokyo-sexwale

SEXWALE FOR PRESIDENT! The man we call Tokyo is ready to give old friend Blatter the chop at FIFA

JUST GOOD FRIENDS: Sepp Blatter and Tokyo Sexwale

MOSIMA GABRIEL SEXWALE. They call him Tokyo because he loved karate as a kid. And everyone's asking WHO is this reclusive South African millionaire thrust back in to the spotlight by his willingness to stand for FIFA president on February 26?

What was it he said yesterday? "The brand of FIFA is seriously damaged following various scandals. It needs to be restored."

Brave sentiments. Now 62, Sexwale has never been involved in professional football as a player or administrator, but that shouldn’t rule him out of contention against a diverse list of people who have thrown their names into the hat to replace the currently suspended Sepp Blatter.

Described by the Guardian in the UK as “ an apartheid-era political prisoner turned multimillionaire mining tycoon”, Tokyo is listed only as FIFA’s “anti-racism” advisor. His latest mission was to sort out the "normalisation" of football in Palestine and Israel... he has played no public part in footballing or sporting administration in South Africa.

Sexwale (it’s NOT pronounced Sex Whale, for Westerners who can’t click it’s more like Sesh Waa Lay) didn’t have much time for sport as a young man, he was too busy (like many of his generation) fighting South Africa’s inhuman political philosophy Apartheid (pronounced Aparthate).

He’s a struggle hero in his home country, which comes with its own unique pressures. Most famously of all, he was jailed on Robben Island alongside the father of the nation, Nelson Mandela. When Aparthate fell in 1994, Tokyo became the first democratic Premier of Gauteng, the province which grew out of the old Transvaal, incorporating the huge metropolis of Johannesburg and Pretoria, the financial hub of the mining nation.

SMILE PLEASE: Blatter, Sexwale and Valcke with
Nelson Mandela during the World Cup in 2010

Politically, Sexwale was once headed for the presidency, but his attempts to unseat South Africa’s second democratic president Thabo Mbeki failed as Jacob Zuma slipped in to the hot-seat after the ANC’s Polokwane conference in 2007.

From 2009 to 2013, Tokyo was Minister of Human Settlements but his time in the ruling African National Congress came to an end when he chose once more to invest his energy in to mining rather than politics - an astute decision given the corruption allegations which have raged around Zuma’s reign

Sexwale was born in Orlando West, the son of a clerk at a local hospital. He left Orlando West High in 1973, just four years short of the Soweto Uprising which, infamously, saw school children shot by a minority Apartheid government still clinging to power.

A follower of Steve Biko’s black consciousness movement, he was a leader in the South African Student Movement before fleeing the country as so many struggle exiles did, to join Umkhonto we Sizwe, (“Spear of the Nation”) to fight the white minority government. He completed a Certificate in Business Studies during his time in Swaziland, a small independent nation almost entirely surrounded by South Africa.

He also spent time in the old Soviet Union, training with their military, specialising in engineering. But when Sexwale returned to South Africa, he was arrested and imprisoned for 18 years for terrorism and conspiracy to overthrow the National Party government.

During his 13 years on Robben Island - the “Alcatraz” off Cape Town which was reserved for freedom fighters - he studied for a B Com degree before his release in 1990 under the Groote Schuur Agreement. He is recognised as an expert in the African mining industry, particularly in the diamond sector.

Tokyo struck up a relationship with local para-legal Judy van Vuuren while he was behind bars - they married soon after he was released. The African National Congress beckoned and Sexwale took over the PWV province, previously Transvaal, now Gauteng, after the elections. In 1998 he left politics to forge a career as a businessman but he was drawn back when Mbeki was replaced by Zuma… only to leave again. That he is successful is beyond doubt. He is President of South Africa’s Russian and Japanese business forums and is Honorary Consul General of Finland.

But his football connections are marked mainly by a strong relationship with the now disgraced Sepp Blatter. Sexwale, through the build-up to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, was often pictured with Blatter and his side-kick Jerome Valcke, he was the hand-holder, the smiling face of Africa's first EVER World Cup.

Though Danny Jordaan, the SAFA president who now also doubles as the ANC’s Mayor of Port Elizabeth, has backed him for the FIFA job, neither have addressed the controversies which stir in the background. From his attempts to unseat Mbeki to his involvement in business deals in the north of the continent to his public rift with wife Judy, Sexwale is not quite the squeaky clean leader required by FIFA post-Blatter.

What was it Jordaan said when "approving" Sexwale's candidacy yesterday? "We've endorsed him unanimously because we are comfortable Tokyo's history, credibility, life experience will help resurrect the essential sport of the African continent, the ONLY sport played by all 54 nations on our continent"

Personally, I'd have gone for former Leeds United and Bafana Bafana icon Lucas Radebe if SAFA are going to back somebody for a top football job without an experience at SAFA. Radebe is squeaky-clean, he owns no $70m islands, he does not do business with questionable regimes up north.

Still, Tokyo's rivals for the hottest seat in football are hardly glowing paragons of virtue. Michel Platini, the former France midfielder, has the footballing credentials but is tainted by payments made to him by Blatter.

Another Frenchman, Jérôme Champagne, is former deputy general secretary of FIFA who has long dabbled in footballing politics while Jordan’s Prince Ali bin al-Hussein is known only for his run against Blatter in May. A fourth candidate, David Nakhid, a former Trinidad & Tobago midfielder, is marked by his connections to Jack Warner’s controversial CONCACAF administration.

Sexwale says: "Issa Hayatou (the life-long CAF president and caretaker boss at FIFA until Blatter is unsuspended) has invited me to come to Cairo on October 28. I will put forward my proposals for reforms in FIFA. The mantle of president is heavy."

Still, with Liberia’s Musa Bility out of the running, Sexwale is sure to pull most, if not all, of Africa’s 54 votes, not bad in an electorate of 209.

And the German FA have gone public with their support. Platini is discredited and currently suspended, leaving many European nations looking for a mast to nail their colours too. Bahrain's Sheikh Salman Bing Al-Khalifa may enter the race too, the Asia Football Confederation president may attract European votes too despite human rights issues.

But Sexwale was in jail with Madiba. He has a great name. He's so rich, corruption may not be worth the bother. Why not Sexwale?

THE FIFA CORRUPTION SCANDAL: how South Africa has reacted (video from Sky News, SABC and eTV Sunrise)

ODD COUPLE: Jordaan and Blatter

SINCE the initial FIFA arrests in Zurich nearly two weeks ago, the world has been eager for information on just when and where World Cup corruption took place.

Since South African sports minister Fikile Mbalula's emphatic denials, the story has twisted and turned like a dangerous roller coaster at Alton Towers - and Sepp Blatter has resigned despite winning the vote 133-73 for his FIFTH re-election.

Many South Africans have been implicated, though we cannot yet say who "co-conspirators" 15 and 16 are, as featured in the 160 page FIFA indictment. Only SIX of those pages actually touch on South Africa's World Cup bid. But even today, the South African papers are hot on the trail of Danny Jordaan, Dr Irvin Khoza and even former president Thabo Mbeki.

Here are some of the videos I've posted as the story developed. Anybody who follows me on twitter will know the arguments, the accusations of bias... but have a look at these snippets to get a better idea of what is REALLY happening as the FBI burrow in to world football's governing body...

Here's today's Sky News interview, in my Kaizer Chiefs t-shirt!




And here's Thursday's Sky News effort, skyped on a cold, dark night outside a Pretoria restaurant!




This is my telephonic effort for the SABC's Morning Live, I've also done Question Time and Media Monitor for them in the last week:





And here's me with the 160-page FIFA indictment, offering the Sports Minister a hand on eTV Sunrise...

So why were South Africa so keen to give Jack Warner $10m... and where did the "Africa Diaspora" cash REALLY go?

Nobel peace prize winners Desmond Tusu, FW de
Klerk and Nelson Mandela with FIFA president
Sepptic Blatter and then-president Thabo Mbeki

It is no longer a question of DID Jack Warner receive $10m before the 2010 World Cup, it is now a question of WHY.

The simple answer is: Because all four Confederation of African Football "pals" voted for South Africa's rivals Morocco in 2004. Which came as a bit of a surprise to our organising committee, who immediately felt the need to persuade the North Americans of CONCACAF to change their mind about voting for Africa's Arabic far northerners.

When Issa Hayatou, chairman of CAF, led his fellow African FIFA executives to the Morocco camp, panic spread through South Africans who expected a romp to victory after the Charles Dempsey disaster of 2000, which took the 2006 World Cup to Germany by the narrowest of margins.

Sepptic Blatter decreed that Africa would host the 2010 World Cup and South Africa - so successful at hosting the 1995 Rugby World Cup and 2003 Cricket World Cup - looked nailed on to win it. Libya's bid crumbled and they were denied a co-hosting deal with Tunisia. Egypt had no support but dark horses Morocco were being pushed by UEFA's Michel Platini and the USA, as a thank you for their anti-terrorism stance.

Jordaan, accused of "not understanding how FIFA works" when he lost the 2006 bid, immediately wheeled out the big guns - Nobel peace prize winners Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He flew them off to Granada to meet with Jack Warner, then chairman of CONCACAF and the Caribbean Football Union. An agreement was forged. A deal was done. Smiles all round. And then the R120m question is: Was it a bribe or not a bribe?

As I first revealed on eTV Sunrise on Friday morning last week, the FIFA indictment explains exactly how and why the now-resigned CONCACAF president winkled 410m out of FIFA for backing South Africa as hosts, despite taking R1m from Morocco to do exactly the same.

Here’s the direct quote from the 160-page indictment – of which just SIX detail the South African problem. There are further details in the document showing a clear paper-trail and the involvement of TWO South Africans, co-conspirators 15 and 16.

“Co-conspirator 1 (believed to be former US FIFA official Chuck Blazer) learned from the defendant Jack Warner that high-ranking officials of FIFA, the South African government and the South African bid committee, including co-conspirator 16, were prepared to arrange for the government of South Africa to pay $10m to CFU (the Caribbean Football Union) to “support the African diaspora.”

Yes, that’s right. The "African diaspora" was used as the cloak to protect what amounted to a blatant bribe. When the money was paid – through FIFA rather than South Africa – Warner used it to pay back his Moroccan contact. Of that there is no doubt. In 2009, when Warner came to South Africa for the Confederations Cup warm-up, President Jacob Zuma told him he was a hero and beamed: "Our nation owes you an eternal debt of gratitude." My how those words must be regretted now.

But Warner got his money. South Africa had their World Cup. Eventually the cash was taken from the much-talked about FIFA World Cup Legacy Fund. Originally intended to amount to $100m, it ended up as $80m, with $10m going towards the building of SAFA house (plus a couple of now-missing buses and Mercedez) next to Soccer City, the other $10m going to pay Warner.

Last time SAFA president Danny Jordaan gave me a copy of that account, it amounted to just over R350m (about $38m these days) with no visible signs of grass roots development that I can find. He claims now that R65m of it will be used to fund a "SAFA Technical Centre" South of Johannesburg, but admits "there are paperwork problems".

That Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula initially laughed off the Warner payment as “a Hollywood movie” is remarkable. All he had to do was read the indictment. Or even ask Danny Jordaan and Irvin Khoza about the “African diaspora” scenario. By Monday, when I appeared on television again, Mbalula had changed his story. He admitted the payment had been made but insisted it was "a procedural matter.' The television company was warned to stop me talking about the FIFA story.

Mbalula – and several top South African football journalists – got stuck in to the US investigation for “disrespecting” South Africa, for demeaning our brilliant World Cup in 2010.

I understand that attitude. But they are missing the point. If Warner and Blazer had taken their three CONCACAF votes to Morroco, the Nelson Mandela dream of a World Cup in Africa may have been derailed. Unlikely, but in those jumpy days of 2004, after the “Dempsey abstention” had robbed us of the 2006 edition, we had to be sure. People were saying the Rainbow Nation had become a criminal nightmare, that violence would erupt. We had to bend the argument back to Madiba's dream. In the end, the vote went to South Africa, 14-10 over Morocco, with Egypt polling no votes.

So, brilliantly, we paid the money to help the “African diaspora” in  the Caribbean, apparently to help young people of African descent to play football in the West Indies. Bizarrely, no money from Africa’s first World Cup ever went to the Confederation of African football to help anybody.

But then, they didn't vote for us, not even our "mate" Ishmael Bhamjee from Botswana, who was wined and dined extensively by SAFA in the build-up to the vote. The brother of disgraced former PSL boss Abdul claimed afterwards he voted for South Africa in the secret ballot, but that was a cop out.

Now the FBI face the tough task of proving the $10m was in fact a bribe rather than a nice chunk of money offering Trinidad and Tobago MP Jack Warner – once the island nation’s Minister of Security – ten million opportunities to help the local footballers who could be traced back to the dark continent.

If that money was NOT used for the right purposes, surely SAFA have the right to demand it back?  $10m would pay neatly for that new Technical Centre  - not to mention the salary of our long-awaited Technical Director with Bafana Bafana suffering the Shakes right now.

As with the pre-World Cup match-fixing allegations, which led to the brief suspension of five SAFA officials two years ago, SAFA are closing ranks and denying alongside Mbalula, with Tokyo Sexwale, Molefi Olifant, Danny Jordaan and Dr Irvin Khoza all singing from the same song sheet. Among their number: the two "co-conspirators" named in the detailed US indictment. And, without question, the mystery men who dealt with master fixer Wilson Raj Perumal in the four friendlies so clearly "bent" before the 2010 World Cup.

But in effect the denials changed to excuses on Sunday, with Jordaan admitting to paying the Caribbean Football Union, through a CONCACAF account run by Warner, $10m, while the new Mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay insisted: “I haven’t paid a bribe or taken a bribe from anybody in my life.”

Jordaan is now so firmly embroiled in solving political corruption problems in Port Elizabeth, he didn't make the vote which reinstalled Blatter for a fifth term on Friday, a less than expected 133-73 victory over Jordan's Prince Ali.

Jordaan claimed he didn't travel to Switzerland to "cut costs" after warning his ANC councillors in NMB to make less overseas flights. In fact the ANC told him not to go. His Mayoral job is just too important to them. Clearly Jordaan cannot carry on his double life. What if he'd gone to Zurich and been questioned - not by the FBI but by local police - about how he cast his vote for Qatar 2022? Or if they'd asked him how much he got paid for his part in the 2010 World Cup? Enough to pay off the five houses he told me about a week ago?

I believe Jordaan did what he had to to bring the World Cup home for Madiba. He did what FIFA officials have done since Argentina 1978, when a disgusting military junta persuaded the world they were a suitable venue to fix 6-0 victories over Peru.

And I think the FBI will find it hard to prove the $10m was, indeed, a bribe. Mbalula, whose bizarre claims are actually hampering South Africa's defence, would be best served asking what happened to the money rather than denying it was paid.

The only question is: Did we pay Jack Warner to help Caribbean victims of the “African disapora” or not? Can anybody prove otherwise? Is it South Africa's fault he used $1m of it to pay back his Moroccan bribe? Of course not. The bloke has made a fortune from football before his resignation in 2011. So much so that he can now afford to tell Blatter he "shamed the game of football" (he also used the word "disgrace" when interviewed by the German magazine Stern yesterday).

What South Africa cannot afford is THIS: a series of silly denials and accusations from the Sports Minister Mbalula saying "America are trying to make us look corrupt". They aren't. Honestly. Nkandla, Marikana, the arms deal and so many other stories are doing that very effectively in the eyes of the rest of the world.

The Americans just want an explanation for Warner's payment. If they don' get it, we could find the investigation broadening in to a check on the match-fixing allegations - still not dealt with - the tenders for our World Cup stadia - don't ask Bobby Motaung - and post-World Cup bonuses.

And that could be a REAL problem. Best we just don't go there.

The FIFA arrests: a great week for football but who can stop Sepp Blatter's fifth term in office?

Just good friends: Danny Jordaan and Sepp Blatter

ANDREW JENNINGS, the investigative reporter who has spent a lifetime exposing FIFA corruption, hit the nail on the head hours after the arrest of six officials in Switzerland. His view: “A great day for football.”

While President Sepp Blatter, stubbornly attempting a fifth term in charge of the world footballing body, denies involvement as his henchmen collapse in handcuffs around him, Jennings neatly brings South Africa in to the debate, pointing out: “Perhaps it’s time to consider Danny Jordaan’s involvement. He was always full of praise for Blatter.”

FIFA’s official response in their hastily convened press conference hours after the arrests: “We go on with the election as planned. We cannot confirm how many are arrested. The World Cups in Qatar and Russia go ahead as planned.”

No doubt Blatter will attempt to describe the arrests as further proof of FIFA clearing out their corrupt element, ignoring his position as the spearhead of the Qatar bid, the chief corruptor amongst the corrupt.

And he’ll probably question the FBI’s involvement in a bizarre action which saw foreign nationals in famously-neutral Switzerland led away in chains from their 5-star hotel rooms for extradition to the United States.

But the FBI is entitled to act as the huge bribes surrounding Qatar and other World Cup bids were carried out in US dollars.

It’s not just bribes that are being look in to. Charge of wire fraud, racketeering and money laundering are also on the indictment from New York. As Jennings says: “This goes back years, I’ve handed over all my documents to the FBI. At last somebody has taken action. I’ve alerted authorities in Britain, Germany and even South Africa to what has been going on, but nobody would act.”

For South Africans, this means the extraordinarily profitable 2010 World Cup will come under scrutiny as the investigation expands. We were required to sign documents during the tournament which allowed FIFA the free flow of foreign currency through our borders; the closure of businesses and roads within a mile of grounds… while South Africa is left with half-a-dozen expensive stadia dotted around the country.

Any credit Blatter gained from finally bringing the World Cup to Africa has to be weighed against what it cost the Rainbow Nation and though Jordaan – who now looks eminently suitable for his role as Nelson Mandela Bay’s fourth majory in ten years – has R350m hidden away in a FIFA Legacy Fund account, what have we really got to show for it?

Jennings happily moved the discussion on from FIFA to Issa Hayatou, who has been in charge of the Confederation of African Football even longer than Blatter has controlled the world game. He says: “I put all Hayatou’s bribes on television four years ago, hopefully this will bring him down too.”

According to FIFA: “Blatter is not dancing in his office, but he is calm.”

But the unforgettable sight of Swiss police hand-cuffing two FIFA vice-presidents in their luxury Zurich hotel where they are accustomed to coffee not coppers will not quickly disappear.

As I write, the Swiss attorney general is questioning those who voted on the 2018 and 2022 World Cup decisions. When Russia and Qatar were announced as hosts in 2010, I was still British-based but had already arrived in South Africa for the World Cup. At the time, I told listeners in Johannesburg and Cape Town that those votes were clearly bogus, the result of bribery and governments who put money before people.

For years, Blatter and his cronies, many of them living lifestyles far removed from the footballers in the tiny nations they represent, have shrugged off such allegations.

Not any more. The timing of this week’s action is classic. Seven arrests for “rampant, deep-rooted, serious corruption” cannot be laughed off. And even as the US authorities moved in, the Swiss – who have put up with Blatter’s conniving for so long – launched their own investigation in to the executive committee.

The US justice department says nine FIFA officials and FIVE executives have been indicted. Yet FIFA say none of them will be suspended for the big re-election vote. The dismiss suggestions of a re-vote over Qatar.

For 17 years, Sepp Blatter has handed out millions of non-profit-making FIFA profits in return for votes. Like so many sporting dictators – Bernie Ecclestone and Formula One springs instantly to mind – he will hang on long after retirement age, long after common sense suggests it’s time to go.

Today Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula insisted South Africa has nothing to hide, that a $10m bribe to encourage votes for South Africa 2010 was without substance. He compared the allegations to "a Hollywood movie". He may well be right.

But the investigation will touch on South Africa. Whether he likes it or not. And a quick look at football in South Africa suggests a few arrests - on match-fixing, corruption or racketeering - might come in handy.

While Danny Jordaan was duly crowned Mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay yesterday, the nation was recovering from Bafana Bafana's successive COSAFA defeats against Botswana and Malawi on penalties. Attendances are down, our top clubs can't get past round one in the African Champions League and we can no longer boast a single player in the top leagues of Europe.

Our game is a mess. These allegations form a gloomy backdrop to declining standards and poor development. And we are not alone. It's high time football had a shake up, even if we have to rely on the FBI to do it.

The official statement, as expected: “FIFA welcomes actions that can help contribute to rooting out and wrong-doing in football… we are pleased to see the investigation is being energetically pursued for the good of football and believe that it will help to reinforce measures that FIFA has already taken.”

That’s Walter de Gregorio tap dancing before the world’s media while Blatter hides himself away, claiming a sudden loss of weight and improvement in health make him suitable for another term.

But anybody who knows football knows this: the emperor has no hope. He has no clothes.

FIFA Legacy Fund "Up and Running Within Days"... and Not Before Time

One year and two days after the gleaming World Cup closing ceremony at Soccer City, Danny Jordaan insists the promised $100m FIFA Legacy Fund is on the verge of materialising.

Jordaan, head of the South African organising committee, travelled to Zurich, Switzerland to conclude negotiations which will see the promised cash for “grass roots development” handed out to local communities.

Jordaan is believed to have finalised arrangements for the fund, which amounts to around R700m given current exchange rates.

So far just $25m of the promised fund has been spent – $20m on building the swanky SAFA headquarters near Soccer City which was completed before the tournament began and $5m on 50 buses already handed over to the regional SAFA branches.

On December 17, 2010, recently re-elected president Sepp Blatter said in Johannesburg: "FIFA are not a circus where we pitch our tent and remove them when the event is over. FIFA will leave a lasting legacy for the youth of South Africa.”

“We always said that the first World Cup on African soil should leave a lasting sports and social legacy. This trust is yet another concrete achievement in this area."

While the exchange rate has worked in his favour, Jordaan has been working for months to get the fund up and running, and he insists an eight-man board of trustees – two from FIFA, four from SAFA and two independent members – will be deciding on the fate of the fund “within days”.

Needy institutions – non-profit and charity organisations – will soon be invited to put their proposals to the trustees “for scrutiny and approval” along the lines of the lottery fund.

Jordaan, deputy president of SAFA, spent last Sunday near Bronkhorstspruit, north of Pretoria, opening a new pitch which was inaccurately described as having been paid for by the FIFA Legacy Fund in some areas.

The R6.3m ($900,000) project, which also features a clubhouse, has been completed in the rural community of Ekangala.

The development is just one of 52 artificial pitches promised as a World Cup legacy. Four have been completed so far - at Khayelitsha in the Western Cape, Upington in the Northern Cape, and in North West and the Eastern Cape. Two further projects “aiming to give marginalised communities access to quality” are “under construction”.

But those facilities are being paid for by a combination of funds from SAFA and the National Lottery Fund... not by FIFA’s promised Legacy Fund.

Speaking at Ekangala on Sunday, Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale said: "Before the World Cup we were doubted by everyone, but we managed to pull of one of the most successful and talked about tournaments in FIFA's history.

"We made a promise before the World Cup that we wanted the event to leave a legacy, and the beautiful pitch you see today is a result of all that.

"We cannot have the Radebes, the Pienaars, the Khunes and the Jalis without development, and the new pitch you see here and around the country speaks to that."

Jordaan chose the pragmatic approach. He said: "We want to urge the people here to own this and treat with the care it deserves. We don't want to come back here and see it vandalised, it's for football development, and that's what we want to see."

On a more congratulatory note, he added: "The World Cup was one of the most special moments in our country. The World Cup started when Mandela walked out of prison and ended when he was driven onto that pitch during the closing ceremony and waved to the crowd.

“The tournament saw black and white coming together and co-owning the country just like the non-racial South Africa Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo wanted.”

Looking ahead to the slightly-troubled 2014 World Cup in Brazil, he said: “We have established many benchmarks that the next host would have to achieve and surpass.”

Though Jordaan was understandably happy with the tournament he played such a major part in organising with FIFA’s Jerome Valcke, Jordaan will be only too aware of the problems the World Cup has left behind – and it amounts to more than unused stadia.

The 310,000 foreign visitors fell about one-third short of original expectations, and the $521m spent by fans was a long way short of the R33 billion ($4.8bn) the government spent on stadiums, infrastructure, a new airport in Durban, organisation and security.

Which might explain why he is so eager to get FIFA – who have so far reported record revenue of $631m in South Africa - to deliver on their Legacy Fund promise.

The Lost Legacy Fund: Fifa Still Owe South Africa R550m After Record World Cup

One year after the World Cup’s big kick-off at Soccer City, South Africans are still waiting for any sign of the £50million (R550million) promised by FIFA’s 2010 Legacy Programme.

While recently re-elected president Sepp Blatter glides serenely into a fourth term in charge boasting of FIFA’s record £1.24bn (R12billion) profit from a superb 2010 tournament in the Rainbow Nation, the money he promised as a legacy after Africa’s first World Cup – which FIFA said would benefit grass roots football as well as education, health and social projects – remains unpaid.

Fund spokesman Greg Fredericks confirmed: "None of the £50million has been spent - not one cent. The money is still in Zurich. The delay is simply down to the amount of time it takes to establish legally recognised bodies for handling this amount of money."

Blatter, 75, unveiled his much-hyped fund in December 2010, insisting: "We always said the first World Cup on African soil should leave a lasting legacy. We trusted South Africa and that trust was well founded.

“Fifa are not a circus where we pitch our tent and remove them when the event is over. Fifa will leave a lasting legacy for the youth of South Africa thanks to this successful World Cup.

"This fund is also a reward for South Africans for having been such great hosts. We always said that the first World Cup on African soil should leave a lasting sports and social legacy. This trust is yet another concrete achievement in this area."

Although the £60m fund, administered by accountants Ernst and Young, is reserved for a wide range of public benefit initiatives, Blatter confirmed that only £10m had been actually been used - to build the extravagant South Africa Football Association (SAFA) building next to the Soccer City, where Spain beat Holland to lift their first World Cup last July.

South African president, Jacob Zuma said at the time: "We wanted a World Cup that would contribute to social cohesion and national pride that would enhance African solidarity and improve the country's global reputation. Our expectations were exceeded.

"Now remains the difficult but most important task of ensuring a lasting legacy and to build world-class national teams both at youth and senior level. This legacy trust is an important contribution towards that goal."

With FIFA still reeling over bribery claims surrounding Blatter’s unopposed re-election and the decision to give Qatar the 2022 World Cup, Britain’s best selling tabloid The Sun quotes shadow Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Ivan Lewis as saying: "This is another example of poor leadership. South Africa faces many challenges and FIFA should release the money as a matter of urgency."

Labour MP Michael Dugher added: "FIFA is a shameful shambles. It made a vast sum from South Africa and has a duty to plough that money back as soon as possible."

The High Court has to rubber-stamp the setting up of a trust to decide how to distribute the remaining cash. Best estimates predict a further five-month wait for any pay-out from the Legacy fund – while the cash remains in FIFA’s Swiss bank accounts gaining interest.

The Sun also quotes lawyer Richard Spoor - representing locals in Matsafeni, where the 41,000-seater Mbombela Stadium was built on land belonging to the local people – as saying: "Even now there's no adequate water supply and the living conditions are totally unsanitary.

"The roads are unpaved and there's no proper sewage system. The conditions are unhealthy and frankly quite deplorable."

Who on earth is Neal Collins (nealcol on Twitter)? See www.nealcollins.co.uk.

Sepp Blatter: FIFA's re-elected emperor has clothes, but no moral fibre

Plain sailing resumes in the Sepp Blatter FIFAdom. Just about all of Zurich’s 208 representatives, three of them suspended, gathered to ease their president through stormy seas and on to a serene fourth term.

Emperor Sepptic, with clothes but no moral fibre, emerges to tell us he was “the captain of the ship”, and he would steer that stricken vessel to safety.

He’ll change the way World Cups are awarded, he’ll make FIFA so transparent we’ll be able to see right through it. As if we don’t already.

All smiles today, not like Monday night’s “elegance and respect” ranting at the world’s media. No waving of the FIFA Ethics book. This paid-up audience was his. He waffled on for ages, saying nothing, reassuring those worried executives at Adidas, Emirates Airlines and Visa. When sponsors like that get uptight, Blatter goes in to top gear, even at the ripe old age of 75.

More talk of this Ethics place. Has he ever been to Chelmsford on a Friday night?

Of course Uncle Josep was enjoying himself today. He’d just seen attempts to unseat his sizeable bottom from the football’s hottest seat fail, with a little help from what FIFA watchers might call “the little big guns”.

England’s David Bernstein was shot down in flames by Haiti, Congo, Benin and Cyprus. Hardly the big names of football or the global political stage, but important here, where money makes the ball go round.

Bernstein had done his best to satisfy the angry folks at home. After the suspended Jack “Pirates of the Caribbean” Warner had leaked FIFA big-shot Jerome Valcke’s email - the one which said “Qatar might have bought the World Cup but they can’t by the FIFA Presidency” Bernstein had quite reasonably requested a postponement of today’s one-man election.

While Germany’s Theo Zwanziger called for a review of the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, Bernstein (with a little help from arch-democrat and self-made-man Prince William in the tabloids) called for a delay, presumably so somebody more stiff-upper-lipped could have a tilt at Blatter.

Bernstein received a smattering of polite applause before the mighty voices of Haiti, Benin, Congo and Cyprus put him back in his place. “Undemocratic”, they said, “Destabilising”, “Let’s all pull together”. That sort of bunkum. Forget Ethics or Middlethex.

And then came Argentina. Never England’s greatest allies (google Malvinas and/or Hand Of God), their bloke Julio Grondona insisted: "We always have attacks - mostly with lies and with the support of journalism which is more busy lying than telling the truth."

Yup. Lies. That’s why the Sun in London this morning ran the classic “Despot the difference” with pictures of Blatter and Ghadaffi.

That’s why two executive committee members – Warner and Mohamed Bin Hammam, who so controversially “bought” that World Cup for Qatar in 2022 – are suspended.

Wasn’t Bin Hammam the one who was supposed to be competing against Blatter extending a reign which started in 1998, when Lionel Messi was a tiny young thing?

Cleary, we must all be wrong. An attempt to change the agenda failed miserably, with just two absentions (probably England and Scotland) and three suspensions to mar the unanimous vote.

But efforts to delay the actual crowning of Blatter soon failed too. This time 17 countries backed England's call and another 17 abstained. Progress. But nowhere near the 75 percent support needed to delay Blatter’s fourth presidency. A landslide 172 delegates voted for Blatter’s coronation (and continued pocket lining for the tiny nations).

Not your fault, Mr Bernstein. Like the Eurovision song contest, England are viewed as arrogant colonial bullies, and in football the envy shown towards the almighty English Premier League causes real resentment among the smaller nations.

And of course, the 2018 World Cup bid saw England garner just one real vote. After all those appearances by the hard-working, family-businessman Prince William and his humble pal Baron David Beckham. Russia ran away with it of course, despite the technical difficulties of travelling vast distances between stadia and the huge cost of building nine new stadia.

Just like Qatar really. Australia had a perfect bid. With the Sydney 2000 Olympics and 2003 Rugby World Cup, who could doubt their credentials. But Qatar, with 12 stadia within an hour of eachother, temperatures soaring above 40 degrees and no evidence of every assembling a crowd of over 15,000 for a football match, made it.

And if you want to know what the conditions are like for workers in Qatar, try http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-30/-inhuman-conditions-overshadow-qatar-world-cup-unions-say.html

Ah, the injustice. But we little Englanders bleat too much. It will be four long years before Frenchman Michel Platini gets to make his hop from UEFA presidency to FIFA ubergruppenfuhrer.

Then the trouble really will start. Platini is no fan of the big English clubs, let alone the nation.

He wants the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United to cut back their debt to manageable levels, leaving Arsenal the only side standing in the top half of the Premier League. Hmm. Maybe that’s not such a bad idea.

And by then Bin Hammam and Jack Warner will be long forgotten, as will Valcke’s incriminating but “private” email).

Russia and Qatar will merrily host two difficult World Cups, FIFA will make a packet and all this will be for nought.

But it’s wrong. There is a slim chance Brazil's Ricardo Teixeira could squeeze in ahead of Platini. Me? I’d plump for Danny Jordaan, the principled, quietly-spoken brains behind South Africa 2010.

But it appears to matter little for now. Over the next four year’s Blatter will batter his bitter enemies, introducing apparent reforms and using his Swiss bank accounts to good effect.

Not a great time to be head of the FA. But not a bad time to be Haiti’s FIFA delegate.

Who the hell is Neal Collins (nealcol on Twitter)? See www.nealcollins.co.uk.