Fifa says secretary general Jerome Valcke had no role in US$10 million payment

Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke was not involved in the US$10 million payment mentioned in the US corruption probe rocking soccer’s governing body, Fifa said on Tuesday.

Fifa said the payment was approved in 2007 by Julio Grondona, the former chairman of the finance committee who died last year.

The Fifa statement follows a New York Times report that American law enforcement officials believe Valcke transferred the money in 2008 to accounts controlled by Jack Warner, the former Concacaf president and Fifa vice president who faces corruption charges in the US. The report cited unidentified law enforcement officials.

But soccer's world governing body described the payment as part of the South African government’s “project to support the African diaspora in Caribbean countries as part of the World Cup legacy”.

"The payments totalling US$10m were authorised by the then chairman of the Finance Committee and executed in accordance with the Organisation Regulations of FIFA," FIFA said in the statement.

"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."

The US Department of Justice says the money was used by South Africa to pay off Warner and two other former Fifa executive committee members for backing South Africa in a 2004 vote that awarded the country the 2010 World Cup.