South Africa Football Association (SAFA) president, Danny Jordaan, has revealed how he turned down overtures to bribe the electorate in last month’s FIFA Council elections.
The Safa boss lost 35-18 to Walter Nyamilandu of Malawi after a second round of voting for the FIFA Council seat reserved for CAF’s Anglophone constituency.
According to a radio interview reported by Sport24, Jordaan claimed how he snuffed out approaches by a section of the electorate selling their votes.
Jordaan is reported to have shut out voters who allegedly woke him up at 04:00 selling their votes for more than $15 000 they claimed to have received from his rival candidates.
“I told them I had never been involved in bribery… and I was not interested in their offer either,” Jordaan was quoted as saying.
A CAF source is however quoted dismissing Jordaan’s claims saying, “You don’t have to resort to bribery with such an overwhelming advantage.”
It was not the first time for the 67-year-old Jordaan to take a shot at the FIFA Council seat as he lost out in 2011 and pulled out of the running last year.
SAFA’s decision to vote for the USA, Mexico and Canada 2026 World Cup bid instead of Morocco is said to have worked against Jordaan’s favour within the CAF corridors of power, leading to the FIFA Council seat defeat.