Fifagate: Further pressure on Blatter as allegations of 10m dollar bribe emerge

The UK Press Association (PA) says it has obtained evidence proving FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke was aware of a 10-million-dollar payment to former vice president Jack Warner, made in 2008. PA says it has obtained a letter written by the South African Football Association, which also appears to contain precise instructions for payment. BOMBSHELL: Letter from South Africa FA to FIFA instructing $10m payment to Warner WAS addressed to Jerome Valcke pic.twitter.com/b0yKBPRAcA— Martyn Ziegler (@martynziegler) June 2, 2015 This comes as FIFA, world football’s governing body, issued a statement claiming: “Neither the Secretary General Jérôme Valcke nor any other member of FIFA’s senior management were involved in the initiation, approval and implementation of this project.” US prosecutors investigating possible corruption within FIFA allege the payment, made on behalf of the South African Football Association, is a bribe. Valcke is not accused of wrongdoing, however the payment is at the heart of the investigation, nicknamed Fifagate. Warner, the former president of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) is accused of accepting the money in return for voting for the 2010 World Cup to be played in South Africa. FIFA claims the South African government approved a 10-million-dollar project to “support the African diaspora in Caribbean countries,” ahead of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. UPDATE: A letter has emerged that questions Fifa’s denial of Valcke’s part in $10m transfer http://t.co/RQbvwkgwgy pic.twitter.com/9WbAEtXr5E— SportsJOE.ie (@SportsJOEdotie) June 2, 2015 The allegations are likely to put further pressure on FIFA’s freshly re-elected president, Sepp Blatter.