The South African government approved the transfer of $10-million to “support the African diaspora in Caribbean countries as part of the World Cup legacy”‚ FIFA has confirmed in a statement.

A US indictment claims that the payment was a bribe to then head of regional football body Concacaf‚ Jack Warner‚ in exchange for votes in favour of South Africa hosting the 2010 tournament.

“At the request of the South African government‚ and in agreement with the South African Football Association (Safa)‚ FIFA was asked to process the project’s funding by withholding $10-million from the Local Organising Committee’s (LOC) operational budget and using that to finance the Diaspora Legacy Programme‚” FIFA said.

FIFA effectively confirmed that the money went to Warner‚ saying: “Safa instructed FIFA that the Diaspora Legacy Programme should be administered and implemented directly by the President of Concacaf who at that time was Deputy Chairman of the Finance Committee and who should act as the fiduciary of the Diaspora Legacy Programme Fund of $10-million.”

The body said that the transfer of the money was authorised by the chairman of its finance committee “and executed in accordance with the Organisation Regulations of FIFA”.

“FIFA did not incur any costs as a result of South Africa’s request because the funds belonged to the LOC. Both the LOC and Safa adhered to the necessary formalities for the budgetary amendment”.

The organisation denied that secretary-general Jérôme Valcke was “involved in the initiation‚ approval and implementation of the above project”.