SPORTS Minister Fikile Mbalula is headed for a bitter showdown with Fifa secretary-general Jerome Valcke after the Frenchman announced this week the sport’s governing body would take control of the long-running match-fixing investigation around Bafana Bafana friendly matches on the eve of the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
A seething Mbalula said yesterday he was shocked Valcke did not “have the courtesy” to inform President Jacob Zuma and himself first that former Federal Bureau of Investigations agent Michael Garcia would take over the investigation.
Valcke said he did not know if Zuma would still continue with his commission of inquiry after Garcia has wrapped up his own investigation.
“‘I don’t know, I don’t know. I mean there is a time when we have to close this case and there is a time for us to move on and that is why we are doing this.”
Mbalula said he could not understand why the Fifa officials have become impatient after agreeing at a meeting – attended by Valcke, Mbalula and former South African Football Association (Safa) president Kirsten Nematandani – in Zurich, Switzerland, in April that Zuma would be given time to apply his mind.
“We have got an agreement on the table and when the president (Zuma) has decided, he will tell us the way forward. When the president is ready, we will tell Fifa what he has decided.
“If they are so impatient with the process, (Valcke) should have asked to meet the president and myself to discuss this.
“But what does he do, he comes here and makes announcements without talking to us first.”
Mbalula said Fifa should have told him in April when he travelled to Zurich they had the capacity to investigate the match-fixing allegations and he would have saved himself the time he has wasted on the matter over past few months.
New Safa president Danny Jordaan could not be reached for comment yesterday. Valcke said Fifa is investigating other match-fixing cases from around the world and contrary to popular belief, Europe is actually more affected by the scourge than any other part of the globe.
“Just to be clear, match manipulation is not just limited to Africa and it happens all around the world. Match manipulation is happening in many, many countries and Europe is where you find the most problems.”