Honduran Soccer Withdraws Charge of Bribery Offer

NEW YORK â€”  Honduras’ soccer federation has withdrawn its claim that a Santa Ana promoter attempted to bribe one of its players, the general secretary of the Confederation of North and Central American and Caribbean federations (CONCACAF) said Tuesday.

“Based on my discussion this morning with the president of the Honduran federation, Roberto Ochoa Cordova, they’ve indicated that they’ve looked into the matter and found no basis for the allegation,� Chuck Blazer said.

“Upon receipt of an official communication confirming my conversation with Ochoa, we’ll be closing the matter.�

Hugo Bandi, president of Sudmex Promotions, Inc., in Santa Ana, said that he felt vindicated.

“This means I can sleep better tonight,� he said. “I felt confident that everything was going to be OK, but I was anxious because I’ve never been in a situation like this before.�

Blazer had scheduled a hearing for Thursday at CONCACAF headquarters in New York after learning last week of the alleged attempt to bribe Honduran goalkeeper Belarmino Rivera.

According to published reports in the Central American and Mexican press, Rivera accused Bandi of offering him money to allow El Salvador to beat Honduras in the final game of the Central American Nations Cup June 2 in San Jose, Costa Rica.

Honduras won, 2-1, to earn an invitation to the CONCACAF Gold Cup, scheduled for June 28-July 7 at the Rose Bowl and Coliseum. Promoters had hoped that El Salvador would advance because of the large number of Salvadorans in the Los Angeles area.

Bandi, who serves in a management capacity for the tournament’s organizers, said last week that he met with Rivera in a hotel coffee shop before the game but denied that he offered him a bribe.

In an interview with The Times Monday, the general secretary of the Honduras federation, Rene Mejia Mejia, said that the federation stood behind Rivera’s story but would not file a formal complaint because it could not afford to send a delegation to New York for the hearing.

But Blazer said that, upon further review, Ochoa told him the Hondurans have concluded that the published reports were inaccurate or at least exaggerated.

Times Staff Writer Fernando Dominguez contributed to this report.