The English and South African football associations have launched an investigation into the origin of claims that they had struck a secret stg£3million deal to ensure David Beckham's participation in last week's friendly.
Both sides today angrily denied that any such arrangement had been made following banner headlines in several newspapers this morning.
Danny Jordaan, the man at the centre of the storm, swiftly dismissed the allegations to confirm the FA's insistence overnight that there was no truth to the stories.
"The stories in today's newspapers in England are a complete fabrication," said Jordaan, the man heading South Africa's 2010 World Cup bid.
"At no time did SAFA agree to make a payment to the FA for David Beckham's appearance in last Thursday's match.
"No such payment was requested and no such payment was made. In fact, discussion regarding the availability of specific players was never raised in talks between SAFA and the FA which took place over several months.
"We are extremely disturbed and angry that such allegations have been made and we challenge the British media to provide us with evidence of such a clause in our contract. It simply does not exist."
"It is very, very unfortunate, for David Beckham, for the Football Association and the South African Football Association," he added.
"I don't know where they've got the information from. There is no agreement between us and Beckham, there was never payment directed to Beckham. It is unfair to both the player and both national associations to present a picture which does not exist.
The suggestion had been made by sections of the media that by guaranteeing Beckham's participation, the FA had landed a huge cash windfall from their hosts and television companies.
But the FA's head of media relations Adrian Bevington flatly denied the allegation and promised an investigation.
"The FA is extremely distressed by today's allegations," he said.
"There has been no `secret payment' for David Beckham's or any other player's appearance in South Africa.
"The FA would never name individual players in specific match contracts and it did not do so on this occasion.
"The FA, together with Danny Jordaan and SAFA, now intend to investigate the origin and portrayal of this wholly inaccurate and damaging story." What started out as a public relations exercise to help kick-start South
Africa's bid to host the 2010 World Cup Finals has developed into something of a morass in the days since the game in Durban.