South African authorities probe bribery in 2010 World Cup bid

South African authorities have opened a preliminary investigation into World Cup bribery allegations, and an opposition lawmaker said Thursday he had information suggesting “high-level” involvement.

Anton Alberts of the Freedom Front Plus said the information his party received claimed a previous investigation into payments around the World Cup bid was stopped by “high-level interference.”

“It (the information) does tell us of an event that took place and an investigation that was stunted from a political level,” said Alberts, an opposition member of Parliament.

The South African investigation comes after the U.S. Department of Justice last week indicted 14 people on corruption charges related to soccer. Seven of them were arrested in Zurich ahead of the FIFA congress and are awaiting extradition.

In a separate investigation, Swiss authorities are looking into the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding process.

The crisis, the worst in FIFA’s 111year history, has led to the resignation of president Sepp Blatter, who had won a fifth, four-year term two days after the arrests. The 79-year-old Blatter has not yet been officially implicated in either investigation.

Russia won the right to host the 2018 World Cup and Qatar was awarded the 2022 tournament. Australia, one of the losing bidders for the 2022 World Cup, launched its own investigation Thursday into corruption claims surrounding its failed bid.

In Pretoria, documents were being handed over to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation unit and needed to be investigated fully, Alberts said.

“The information is quite raw,” the lawmaker said, adding people were “coming out of the woodwork” with information now that a wider U.S. Department of Justice probe into corruption at FIFA was underway.

The South African crime unit’s spokesman, Brig. Hangwani Mulaudzi, told The Associated Press that a file had been opened and the unit would decide whether the documents provided by the Freedom Front Plus called for a full investigation.

“There are investigators looking into the matter,” Mulaudzi said.

In the Justice Department’s indictment, senior South African bid officials and the government were accused of channelling $10 million through FIFA to some of its top executives as bribes for them backing the country’s bid to host the 2010 World Cup, the first in Africa.

The South African government has denied involvement in any bribes, and said the $10 million was an “above-board payment” given to former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner to help soccer development in his Caribbean region.