US Officials Believe FIFA Sec.Gen. Transferred $10Mln to CONCACAF Ex-Head

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — US federal authorities believe that FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke is the unidentified “high-ranking FIFA official” who in 2008 have transferred $10 million from FIFA to accounts controlled by former president of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Jack Warner, the New York Times reported citing unnamed officials.

On May 27the US Department of Justice indicted 14 world soccer figures, including Warren, with fraud, racketeering and money laundering. Warren, who currently resides in Trinidad and Tobago, turned himself in to police after the country’s Attorney General issued an arrest warrant for him. It was reported earlier that Warner was accused by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation of receiving a total of $10 million in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

According to the New York Times, the indictment does not say if Valcke knew that the payment was being used as a bribe.

Valcke said in an email that “he had not authorized the payment and did not have the power to do so,” according to the newspaper.

On Sunday, the South African newspaper group IOL reported that President of the country’s football association (SAFA) Danny Jordaan admitted that the 2010 Local Organising Committee paid $10 million to CONCACAF after South Africa won the bid to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He stressed, however, that the payment was not a bribe but a contribution towards a football development fund.