South African football boss charged with World Cup fraud

Powerful South African football boss Bobby Motaung and two others appeared in court on Thursday for 2010 World Cup tender fraud amid claims of political assassinations to cover up the dirt, media reported.

Motaung, the administrator of Soweto-based league Kaizer Chiefs, and his co-accused were granted bail of 50,000 rands ($6,000, 4,900 euro) each at Nelspruit Magistrates' Court in eastern province Mpumalanga, 702 Talk Radio reported.

They are charged with forging tax certificates and municipal letters in a tender to design the Mbombela Stadium in the regional hub next to the world-famous Kruger National Park.

Low-key matches were played in the stadium, whose pillars are designed to look like giraffes in a reference to the province's wildlife.

Fraud and corruption related to World Cup tenders and other wrongdoing have been linked to political murders in the province.

Nelspruit municipal speaker Jimmy Mohlala was shot dead in 2009 after he exposed companies and individuals he accused of tender corruption for the global sporting event in the province.