FIFA says executive committee members sold World Cup votes on 'multiple occasions'

ZURICH (Reuters) - Football's governing body FIFA said on Wednesday that members of its executive committee had in the past sold their votes in World Cup hosting contests, including for the tournament held in South Africa in 2010.

"It is now apparent that multiple members of FIFA’s Executive Committee abused their positions and sold their votes on multiple occasions," it said in a legal document filed to a U.S. court.

It said that former executive committee members Chuck Blazer, Jack Warner and other individuals engineered a $10 million (£7.1 million) payoff in exchange for executive committee votes regarding the hosting of the 2010 World Cup, eventually awarded to South Africa.

(Writing by Brian Homewood in Berne; Editing by Toby Chopra)