FIFA must withdraw bribery allegations - Mbalula
Cape Town - Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula has demanded that FIFA retract its allegations that South African football officials were part of a massive web of alleged bribery at the world football body.
He has also written to Justice Minister Michael Masutha to force FIFA's "capricious lawyers" to stop "undermining South Africa's sovereignty".
This was after FIFA's March 14 announcement that it had immediately banned three South African football officials - Leslie Sedibe, Steve Goddard and Adeel Carelse - from all national and international football-related activities over allegations of match fixing ahead of the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
FIFA also said it was filing a claim in the US to get back money it believes was involved in votes for bribes, saying the world body had been violated and its image damaged.
Mbalula accused FIFA of going back on its word when it promised to give him a copy of its report into its investigation into bribery and match fixing, saying the first he heard of the allegations against the three South Africans was in FIFA's statement earlier this week.