FIFA denies general secretary Jerome Valcke is reponsible for alleged bribe

FIFA denies that Sepp Blatter's lieutenant, Jerome Valcke, or any other member of its senior management made $10 million in bank transactions that are central to a bribery investigation.

Jerome Valcke: FIFA general secretary since 2007
Jerome Valcke: FIFA general secretary since 2007

Secretary general Valcke had no role in the payments, which were authorised by the chairman of FIFA's Finance Committee, it said in a statement.

The chairman of the committee at the time of the payments was Argentina's Julio Grondona, who died last year.

"Neither the Secretary General Jerome Valcke nor any other member of FIFA's senior management were involved in the initiation, approval and implementation of the above project," FIFA said.

A source close to the investigation said on Monday that U.S. prosecutors believe Valcke made the $10 million bank transactions.

Valcke is described in an indictment filed in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, as an unidentified "high-ranking FIFA official" who in 2008 transferred the sum to another FIFA official, Jack Warner.

Valcke's alleged connection to the case was first reported by The New York Times. It said Valcke had written in an email to the newspaper that he neither had authorised the payment nor had the power to do so.

FIFA's denial of Valcke's involvement on Tuesday was rapidly undermined by a leaked letter which was addressed to him regarding the payment.

Letter from South Africa FA to FIFA instructing $10m payment to Warner WAS addressed to Jerome Valcke
Letter from South Africa FA to FIFA instructing $10m payment to Warner WAS addressed to Jerome Valcke

FIFA's said in its statement that, in 2007, as part of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the South African Government approved a $10 million (£6.5m) project to support the African diaspora in Caribbean countries.

FIFA was asked to process the project's funding by withholding $10 million (£6.5m) from the local organising committee's (LOC) operational budget and using that to finance the diaspora legacy programme.

The South African Football Association (SAFA) instructed FIFA that the legacy programme should be administered and implemented directly by the then President of CONCACAF, Jack Warner, "who should act as the fiduciary of the Diaspora Legacy Programme Fund of $10 million."

It added: "FIFA did not incur any costs ... (and) both the LOC and SAFA adhered to the necessary formalities for the budgetary amendment."

Warner, a former FIFA vice president, is among 14 FIFA officials and corporate executives charged by the U.S. Department of Justice last Wednesday with running a criminal enterprise that involved more than $150 million (£98,) in bribes.

Warner left jail in Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday after he was granted bail, according to local media.