Cape Town - Danny Jordaan has now made the startling claim that his recent defeat for a place on the FIFA Council was the product of a rigged CAF election.

But sources on the controlling body of African soccer, under whose aegis the election in Egypt was staged, have refuted the allegation and labelled the SAFA president as simply a bad loser after being conclusively pipped for the vacant FIFA position by Malawian president and former international defender, Walter Nyamilandu.

Indeed, it is suggested laconically, that Jordaan has now become a four-times bad loser - having lost on no fewer than four occasions in an attempt to earn a place on the prized and liberally rewarded FIFA committee that rules over international soccer matters.

However, in a radio interview that contained undertones of a Hollywood movie escapade, SAFA's president related how he had been woken at 04:00 in the morning during the crucial CAF conference in Egypt, with the furtive party concerned announcing they had received amounts of $15 000 and $10 000 from rival candidates in return for votes that would ensure FIFA election - at the same time suggesting Jordaan could buy their allegiance by bettering the amounts.

"I told them I had never been involved in bribery," the SAFA president told his radio interviewer, "and I was not interested in their offer either."

CAF, however, has called Jordaan's claim ludicrous and pointed to the fact that Nyamilandu conclusively beat Jordaan by a comprehensive 35-18 margin by the African countries' delegates when the FIFA Council issue was settled on a second ballot.

"You don't have to resort to bribery with such an overwhelming advantage," was the dismissive comment to Jordaan's allegation.

Jordaan, meanwhile, has not been a favourite at CAF in recent years compared to the time he was a member of deposed FIFA president Sepp Blatter's inner circle, with his popularity further diluted when SAFA voted for the United States, Canada and Mexico to jointly stage the 2026 World Cup ahead of African candidates Morocco.

Jordaan gained the support of a majority of the COSAFA group of nations to replace disgraced Ghanian Kwesi Nyantakyi at FIFA, but it is believed CAF president Ahmad Ahmad, a strong supporter of the Morocco World Cup bid, was strongly opposed to SAFA's president being entrenched on the FIFA Council and he encouraged Nyamilandu to stand as an alternative choice from the Southern African region.

And ultimately it seems as though Ahmad has called the tune, with Nyamilandu the overwhelming winner.