Football Federation Australia chairman Frank Lowy insists Australia’s bid for the 2022 World Cup was clean, as independent Senator Nick Xenophon called for a probe of the campaign.

In an open letter to Australian football fans issued on Wednesday afternoon, Lowy said he had harboured “bitter grievance” against FIFA since the failed 2010 bid and believes the body’s current turmoil might just be the “dawn of a new era”.

“We ran a clean bid,” Lowy wrote.

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“I know that others did not, and I have shared what I know with the authorities, including Michael Garcia who undertook a two-year investigation into the 2022 World Cup bid.

“But did we make mistakes? Yes. Were we naïve? In some cases, yes. Would we do things differently in future? Absolutely.”

Earlier in the day Mr Xenophon called for an inquiry into a $500,000 payment that is believed to have been received by former CONCACAF boss Jack Warner, one of the top FIFA executives arrested last week.

But Lowy has stridently defended the payment, and when CONCACAF contacted the FFA to inform them of an inquiry into the payment, they co-operated fully.

“That inquiry – conducted by two former judges and a senior accountant – found that Jack Warner had committed fraud and misappropriated the funds – in other words he had stolen the money from CONCACAF. It also found other instances of wrongdoing by Warner over many years,” Lowy wrote.

“We asked CONCACAF to give our money back because it wasn’t used for the purpose we intended, and were advised by FIFA to wait until the inquiries were complete. Those inquiries are still ongoing.

“We ran a clean bid and we are proud of that but it wasn’t a level playing field and therefore we didn’t win it. I will always be bitterly disappointed about the outcome.”

Sepp Blatter announced his sudden resignation after being re-elected four days earlier.

Mr Xenophon called on Australian Federal Police and US law enforcement agencies to investigate allegations that Australian taxpayers’ cash was paid into the private bank account of disgraced former FIFA vice president Warner.

Mr Xenophon has released copies of his written requests, including a nine-page letter to US Attorney General Lorretta Lynch, in which he details concerns over how Football Federation of Australia’s cash was used to support the 2010 bid to host the World Cup.

Senator Xenophon is worried that the payment may have been financed by Australian taxpayers after the Federal Government gave the FFA $42 million to sell the World Cup bid to FIFA representatives in 2010.

The South Australian senator wants American investigators to examine a payment of $US462,000 made by the FFA to a bank account owned by Mr Warner in 2010 to fund a stadium redevelopment in Trinidad & Tobago.

US investigators last week indicted Mr Warner and eight other FIFA officials on fraud and money laundering charges.

“Given the recent indictments against Mr Warner I am particularly concerned about the money paid by the FFA to CONCACAF for the express purpose of building the football stadium,” Mr Xenophon told the US Attorney General in the letter.

“My understanding is that it is alleged that Mr Warner personally benefitted from the aforementioned transaction.

“I would be grateful if you could advise whether your department will be taking action in respect of the USD$462,000 paid by the FFA into the account controlled by Mr Warner.”

Senator Xenophon has also requested that the Australian Federal Police and the Commonwealth Auditor General launch investigations into the controversial transaction.