South African authorities have opened a preliminary investigation into World Cup bribery allegations, and an opposition lawmaker said Thursday he had information suggesting ''high-level'' involvement. Anton Alberts of the Freedom Front Plus said the information his party received claimed a previous investigation into payments around the World Cup bid was stopped by ''high-level interference.'' ''It (the information) does tell us of an event that took place and an investigation that was stunted from a political level,'' said Alberts, an opposition member of parliament. The South African investigation comes after the U.S. Department of Justice last week indicted 14 people on corruption charges related to soccer. More...