You do not want to be a South African Football Association (SAFA) official who worked for the governing body leading up to and during the 2010 Soccer World Cup. On Tuesday, Fifa’s ethics committee banned former CEO Leslie Sedibe for five years and Steve Goddard and Adeel Carelse, both former heads of referees at Safa, for two years. The matter relates to a number of friendlies that were fixed in the lead-up to the World Cup – more on that later.

Then, on Wednesday, Fifa effectively confirmed it believes its senior executive committee members were guilty of bribery on a grand scale. A claim for tens of millions of dollars in damages was lodged in the US, with the governing body saying the indicted former executives “deeply tarnished the Fifa brand”.

It directly mentions a $10-million payment from the South African FA routed via Fifa to a bank account controlled by the disgraced former Fifa vice-president and Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) president Jack Warner as a bribe to help secure the 2010 World Cup.

Fifa continues to play the victim card, and time will tell the outcome. But those who were involved in dubious dealings had better sleep with one eye open.

Sedibe’s protestation of his innocence shows a worrying lack of comprehension of the 2010 fixing saga

Leslie Sedibe vehemently protested his innocence on Wednesday. He said, among other things: “I was investigated by the police, and the National Prosecuting Authority took a decision that there was no evidence of match-fixing on my part.” He added: “I put out a challenge to Fifa to inspect my financial records, including those of any person deemed to be connected to me. I said to them, ‘If you find anything, even if it’s a cent that I cannot explain, and the source of that cent, find me guilty’. To date neither Safa nor Fifa has responded to this offer.”

Sedibe is right. He is not guilty of match-fixing. He is guilty of flouting the general rules of conduct, loyalty and duty of disclosure, co-operation and reporting for hiring an outside marketing company to take charge of the friendlies South Africa played in the lead-up to the 2010 World Cup.

The company in question, Football4U, which was run by now-convicted match-fixer Wilson Raj Perumal, arranged for their own (corrupt) referees to be bused in for friendlies involving Thailand, Bulgaria, Colombia, Guatemala and Denmark. The referees would fix results through dubious officiating decisions so that Perumal could profit through betting. In his book, Kelong Kings: Confessions of the World’s Most Prolific Match-fixer, Perumal said Sedibe signed the contract stating his company would take care of the referees – and that’s where the problem lies for Sedibe.

That Sedibe seemingly does not understand the role he played is of deep concern, as it shows a severe lack of understanding of how just how corruption webs are woven.

Fifa’s claim makes direct mention of Jack Warner and Chuck Blazer ‘selling their votes’

For the as yet unnamed South African officials indicted by the US, this is likely to be the thing that leads to their ultimate downfall. Among many other claims by Fifa, the executive committee explicitly accuses Jack Warner of Trinidad and Tobago and Charles Blazer of the US of selling their votes on “multiple occasions”.

Warner is currently fighting extradition, while Blazer has made a plea deal and admitted guilt to all the crimes he stands accused of. The statement says that Warner’s son, Daryan Warner, and other unidentified suspects “engineered a $10-million payoff in exchange for executive committee votes regarding where the 2010 Fifa World Cup would be hosted”.

This payment, which was always denied by South Africa and dressed up as “support for the African Diaspora in the Caribbean region”, was “disguised, and [guilty parties] funnelled the bribe money through the financial accounts of Fifa, member associations, and the 2010 Fifa World Cup local organising committee”.

These connections stretch back to South Africa’s failed bid to host the 2006 World Cup and he had, apparently, also used his “contacts in South Africa to organise friendly matches for Concacaf teams to play in South Africa”, according to the US indictment unsealed last year.

Daryan and his brother Daryll agreed to a co-operation deal with prosecutors in 2013. Documents show prosecutors agreed not to charge him with fraud and money laundering in connection with aiding and abetting the payment to the South African Bid Committee. Now that Fifa has confirmed that the payment was indeed a bribe, the Warner brothers are likely to be key witnesses.

More sanctions against South African officials are likely to follow

When Gianni Infantino was elected Fifa president, a key moment was his telling members Fifa’s money was “theirs”, which resonated with the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) and Concacaf, whose central funding had been frozen by Fifa.

It is not clear whether this attempt to recoup funds has been instigated by Infantino, but the attempt certainly does make it look as though he is living up to his promises. Needless to say, the clock is ticking for those as yet unnamed South African officials who were indicted by the US Justice Department. DM

Photo: A file picture dated 15 May 2004 of FIFA President Joseph Blatter announcing that South Africa would be hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup during an official ceremony in Zurich, Switzerland. EPA/EDDY RISCH.