LONDON — Essentially, two World Cups were awarded to South Africa for 2010. Most visible was the 32-team soccer tournament that is the world’s largest sporting event. Less observable — and more contentious — were business arrangements that have raised serious questions of conflict of interest between the public and private sectors.

A book released Wednesday by the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa, titled “Player and Referee: Conflicting Interests and the 2010 FIFA World Cup,” details six case studies regarding stadium building, official suppliers, bidding practices and government oversight that cast a harsh light on the lack of transparency and public benefit of such arrangements.

The case studies, written by investigative journalists from South Africa and Britain, charge that competing interests among those seeking to benefit financially have left preparations for the 2010 World Cup vulnerable to “manipulation through the use of influence, political pressure, bribes, fraud and extortion.”

Many of these accounts have a familiar ring, addressing issues that occurred at previous World Cups. FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, has regularly faced charges of secrecy and corruption.