Fifa has claimed that secretary general Jerome Valcke was not involved in the $10m payment that is at the centre of a corruption investigation, but a letter addressed to the Frenchman revealed this morning appears to suggest otherwise.

The letter, sent by the South African Football Association president Molefi Oliphant ahead of the 2010 Fifa World Cup, directly references the $10m payment to a bank account “implemented directly by the President of the Concacaf”, who at the time was disgraced former Fifa vice-president Jack Warner. In the letter, Oliphant asks for the payment to be withheld from World Cup funds and paid instead to Warner to help support football in the Carribbean, where Warner was at the time in charge.

The revelation comes after Uefa announced a meeting on Friday to consider forming a breakaway tournament in place of the 2018 Fifa World Cup, due to be held in Russia. Uefa executive committee member Allan Hansen told The Independent that the European confederation will gather at this week to discuss forming a tournament of their own along with some invited South American nations, in order to undermine Fifa and the World Cup in the eyes of its sponsors.

His deputy, American Chuck Blazer, is also alleged to have been involved in the payment, and was last week revealed as the “supergrass” behind the indictment of the current and former Fifa ExCo members.

The Fifa bigwigs facing charges Show all 14 1 /14 The Fifa bigwigs facing charges The Fifa bigwigs facing charges Jeffrey Webb, 50, Cayman Iskands A Fifa vice president. His arrest came as a big surprise, as he had been tipped as the man to clean up Fifa once Blatter departs. Webb is also president of Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) and the Cayman Islands Football Association Getty The Fifa bigwigs facing charges Costas Takkas, 58, UK A British citizen, Mr Takkas is currently an attache to the Concacaf president. He was previously general secretary of the Cayman Islands Football Association, of which Mr Webb is president The Fifa bigwigs facing charges Jack Warner, 72, (pictured), Daryan Warner, 46 and Daryll Warner, 40, Trinidad & Tobago The former Fifa vice president and head of Concacaf was a dominant force in football for 30 years, but was suspended from his roles in 2011 amid accusations of corruption dating back to the 1980s and an investigation by Fifa's ethics committee. He later resigned, ending the proceedings against him. Daryan Warner, the son of Jack Warner is also believed to have co-operated with the FBI. He pleaded guiltyin October 2013 to wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and the structuring of financial transactions, forfeiting $1.1m. Daryll Warner, another of Jack Warner's sons, he pleaded guilty to various offences in July 2013. A former Fifa development officer, he lost the job in 2012 after his father's resignation amid corruption allegations. He and his brother both face up to 10 years in prison Getty The Fifa bigwigs facing charges Charles Blazer, 70, USA The former Concacaf general secretary reportedly turned "supergrass" to help the FBI inestigation, using a bugging device hidden inside a key fob to record meetigs with his Fifa colleagues at the London 2012 Olympics. In November 2013 he pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, and income tax evasion. Seriously ill with colon cancer Getty The Fifa bigwigs facing charges Rafael Esquivel, 68, Venezuela Executive committee member of the South American Football Confederetion (Conmebol). It is alleged that officials at Conmebol, which organises the Copa America, received bribes from marketing executives Reuters The Fifa bigwigs facing charges Eugenio Figueredo, 83, USA/Uruguay The Fifa vice president and executive committee member is a big name in world football, having previously been at the head of Conmebol and the Uruguayan Football Association. A former right-back Reuters The Fifa bigwigs facing charges Nicolas Leoz, 86, Paraguay A former Fifa executive committee member and Conmebol president. When he retired in 2013 for health reasons, he said: "I've not stolen so much as a cent" Getty The Fifa bigwigs facing charges Eduardo Li, 56, Costa Rica President of the Costa Rican Football Federation. He was elected to Fifa's executive commitee in March Reuters The Fifa bigwigs facing charges José Maria Marin, 83, Brazil The former president of the Brazilian Football Confederation is also a member of Fifa's committee for Olympic tournaments Reuters The Fifa bigwigs facing charges Julio Rocha, 64, Nicaragua Fifa development officer. Previously president of his country's football federation EPA The Fifa bigwigs facing charges José Hawilla, 71, Brazil The owner and founder of the Traffic Group, a sports marketing conglomerate, pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, and money laundering conspiracy in 2014. Two of his companies - Traffic Sports International Inc and Traffic Sports USA Inc - have also pleaded guilty youtube.com The Fifa bigwigs facing charges Aaron Davidson, 44, USA President of Traffic Sports USA, is a large promoter of football events in America AP The Fifa bigwigs facing charges Alejandro Burzaco, 50, (pictured), Hugo Jinkis, 70 and Mariano Jinkis, 40, Argentina Alejandro Burzaco, a media executive who controls Torneos y Competencias, a sports marketing business. Hugo Jinkis, is the president of Full Play Group, a sports marketing business in Argentina. His son Mariano, is vice president AP The Fifa bigwigs facing charges José Margulies (AKA José Lazaro), 75, Brazil Although he is in broadcasting, it is alleged he served as an intermediary to facilitate illicit payments between sports marketing executives and Fifa officials youtube.com

Warner was one of 18 current and former Fifa officials arrested last week as part of a corruption investigation led by the FBI and Swiss Authorities.

While Fifa has admitted that a fee of $10m was paid in relation to the 2010 World Cup, they have furiously denied that it was a bribe for votes to award the tournament to South Africa, and have explained that the money went towards World Cup facilities in the country.

The letter, which was obtained and published by the South African broadcasting corporation and posted on Twitter by Press Association’s Martyn Ziegler (see below), appears to confirm that Valcke had knowledge of the payment to Warner.

The revelation comes after the New York Times reported that Valcke was the "high-ranking Fifa official" who signed off the payment to be made, which has led to the arrest of more Fifa officials on Monday to take the total number indicted since last week's raid to 18.

A statement by Fifa claimed that Valcke was not involved in any part of the payment and instead laid the responsibility on former Argentinian FA president and Fifa financial chief Julio Grondona.

A long-time ally and friend of president Sepp Blatter, Grondona died in July last year.

The Fifa statement said: “Neither the Secretary General Jérôme Valcke nor any other member of FIFA’s senior management were involved in the initiation, approval and implementation of the above project [$10m payment].”

The statement added: “In 2007, as part of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, the South African Government approved a USD 10m project to support the African diaspora in Caribbean countries as part of the World Cup legacy,” read a statement from Fifa.

“At the request of the South African Government, and in agreement with the South African Football Association (SAFA), FIFA was asked to process the project’s funding by withholding USD 10m from the Local Organising Committee’s (LOC) operational budget and using that to finance the Diaspora Legacy Programme.

Former Fifa vice-president Jack Warner (Getty Images)

“SAFA instructed FIFA that the Diaspora Legacy Programme should be administered and implemented directly by the President of CONCACAF who at that time was Deputy Chairman of the Finance Committee and who should act as the fiduciary of the Diaspora Legacy Programme Fund of USD 10m.

“The payments totalling USD 10m were authorised by the then chairman of the Finance Committee and executed in accordance with the Organisation Regulations of FIFA. FIFA did not incur any costs as a result of South Africa’s request because the funds belonged to the LOC. Both the LOC and SAFA adhered to the necessary formalities for the budgetary amendment.”

(Getty) (Sepp Blatter)

It has resulted in fresh calls for Valcke – effectively Blatter’s No 2 at Fifa – to resign amid bribery and corruption allegations. On Friday, Valcke was by Blatter’s side as the 79-year-old Swiss was voted into a fifth term as Fifa president, after Prince Ali bin al-Hussein withdrew from the running ahead of a second round of voting.

With Uefa to meet on Friday to discuss the possibility of boycotting the 2018 World Cup, Hansen admitted that it will necessitate taking "the most radical option" in order to force Fifa into a reform.