{"id":208581,"date":"2016-04-22T06:24:35","date_gmt":"2016-04-22T06:24:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=208581"},"modified":"2016-04-22T06:24:35","modified_gmt":"2016-04-22T06:24:35","slug":"blatter-offered-fifa-role-burundi-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=208581","title":{"rendered":"Blatter ‘offered Fifa role to Burundi president’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fifa ex-president Sepp Blatter says he was asked by the Swiss authorities to help ease Burundi’s political crisis by offering the country’s president a job.<\/p>\n

In a new book, Mr Blatter says he offered keen football fan Pierre Nkurunziza an ambassadorial role in exchange for the leader stepping down.<\/p>\n

Mr Nkurunziza declined and won a controversial third term in office.<\/p>\n

The Swiss foreign ministry confirmed it sought Mr Blatter’s help but denied seeking Mr Nkurunziza’s resignation.<\/p>\n

“The intention was to contribute to a peaceful solution in order to prevent the current crisis in Burundi,” a statement said.<\/p>\n

The approach to Mr Nkurunziza took place in May last year, shortly after the protests began against his attempt to win another term.<\/p>\n

The Burundian leader is known for his love of football – he owns his own side, Hallelujah FC, and once coached a Burundian first division team.<\/p>\n

In his book, Mr Blatter is quoted as saying: “I proposed to the president… if it could be an advantage for him or his country, Fifa could deploy him as an ambassador for football in Africa, or the world.”<\/p>\n

\n
\"Pierre
Mr Nkurunziza was photographed playing football as protests grew against him last year<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n

But Mr Nkurunziza said no and was instead re-elected in a poll boycotted by the main opposition parties, who saw the bid as illegal.<\/p>\n

Months of unrest have followed, with more than 400 people killed and tens of thousands fleeing the country.<\/p>\n

Mr Nkurunziza’s office told the BBC the Burundian president had been approached by Mr Blatter, and that the then-Fifa chief was being used by powerful Western nations, without naming them.<\/p>\n

Mr Blatter resigned as boss of football’s world governing body Fifa last year with the organisation mired in corruption allegations.<\/p>\n

He has since been given a six-year ban from football by Fifa for ethics violations.<\/p>\n

Timeline: Chaos in Burundi<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\"A
Burundi saw violent unrest after Mr Nkurunziza announced he would pursue a third term<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n
    \n
  • April 2015<\/strong>: Protests erupt after President Pierre Nkurunziza announces he will seek a third term in office<\/li>\n
  • May 2015<\/strong>: Constitutional court backs Mr Nkurunziza’s bid. Tens of thousands flee as demonstrations continue<\/li>\n
  • May 2015<\/strong>: Army officers launch a coup attempt, which fails<\/li>\n
  • July 2015<\/strong>: Elections are held, with Mr Nkurunziza re-elected. The polls are disputed, with opposition leader Agathon Rwasa describing them as “a joke”<\/li>\n
  • December 2015<\/strong>: 87 people killed on one day as soldiers respond to an attack on military sites in Bujumbura<\/li>\n
  • January 2016<\/strong>: Allegations emerge of mass graves and gang-rapes by Burundian security forces<\/li>\n
  • April 2016<\/strong>: The UN approves a resolution paving the way for a UN police force to be deployed in Burundi<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    –<\/p>\n

    Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Fifa ex-president Sepp Blatter says he was asked by the Swiss authorities to help ease Burundi’s political crisis by offering the country’s president a job. In a new book, Mr Blatter says he offered keen football fan Pierre Nkurunziza an ambassadorial role in exchange for the leader stepping down. Mr Nkurunziza declined and won a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":208583,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-208581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=208581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/208583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=208581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=208581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=208581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}