Promoter Accused of Bribe Offer : Soccer: Honduran goalie says Santa Ana man offered him money to allow El Salvador to win game. Governing body says it has yet to receive complaint.

Although Honduran officials continue to support an allegation by one of their players that he was offered money to ensure that his team lose a game, they said Monday that they have not filed an official complaint and will not attend a hearing scheduled for Thursday at headquarters of the Confederation of North and Central American and Caribbean soccer federations (CONCACAF).

Rene Mejia Mejia, general secretary of the Honduran soccer federation, said from his office in Tegucigalpa that he prefers to forget the matter because the federation cannot afford to send a delegation to New York.

“If CONCACAF doesn’t cover the expenses, we’re not going,” he said. “We have economic problems.”

Chuck Blazer, CONCACAF’s general secretary, said he believes that it is the Hondurans’ responsibility to pay their expenses. But he added that it might be a moot point because he still has not received an official complaint regarding the alleged attempt by a Santa Ana promoter to bribe goalkeeper Belarmino Rivera.

Blazer said he gave the Hondurans a deadline of midnight Monday (EDT) to formalize their charges. If they do not respond, Blazer indicated that the hearing would be canceled and that CONCACAF might take action against Rivera for making unsubstantiated charges.

“Until there’s a complaint, you can’t have an investigation,” he said.

At a news conference last week in Inglewood, Blazer announced that he had invited Rivera, his legal counsel and a representative from the Honduran soccer federation to New York to discuss the allegation that was reported by Notimex, a Mexican news service.

According to the report, Rivera said that he was offered $10,000 by Hugo Bandi, president of Sudmex Promotions, Inc., in Santa Ana, to allow El Salvador to win against Honduras on June 2 in the final game of the Central American Nations Cup at San Jose, Costa Rica.

Honduras won, 2-1, earning a berth in the eight-nation CONCACAF Gold Cup, scheduled June 28-July 7 at the Coliseum and Rose Bowl. Speculation was that the tournament’s organizers preferred that El Salvador win because of the large number of Salvadorans in Southern California who might buy tickets for the team’s games.

Bandi, who is working for the organizers in a management capacity, said last week that he had talked to Rivera before the game in a hotel coffee shop but denied that he had tried to bribe the player.

Rivera has been unavailable for comment. But Mejia said that the goalkeeper stands by his story, although the amount in question was $5,000 instead of $10,000.

“(Bandi) said that he wanted El Salvador to win and that there might be $5,000 in it for (Rivera),” Mejia said. “But it wasn’t clear to Rivera what he would have to do for that kind of money. (Bandi) never openly said that (Rivera) should let in a goal or two or anything like that. There was nothing really specific.”

Mejia said it would cost his federation $6,000 to send three people to New York for the hearing.

“That’s not really a high priority right now,” he said. “We’ve got enough problems raising funds to send a team to Los Angeles. That’s more important at this time.”

Blazer said that he would not consider conducting the hearing by telephone.

Times staff writer Fernando Dominguez contributed to this story.