{"id":24810,"date":"2016-04-22T02:18:30","date_gmt":"2016-04-22T02:18:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/sepp-blatter-offered-fifa-role-to-burundi\/"},"modified":"2016-04-22T02:18:12","modified_gmt":"2016-04-22T02:18:12","slug":"sepp-blatter-offered-fifa-role-to-burundi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/sepp-blatter-offered-fifa-role-to-burundi\/","title":{"rendered":"Sepp 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

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}}<\/p>\n

April 2015: Protests erupt after President Pierre Nkurunziza announces he will seek a third term in office.<\/p>\n

May 2015: Constitutional court backs Mr Nkurunziza’s bid. Tens of thousands flee as demonstrations continue.<\/p>\n

May 2015: Army officers launch a coup attempt, which fails.<\/p>\n

July 2015: Elections are held, with Mr Nkurunziza re-elected. The polls are disputed, with opposition leader Agathon Rwasa describing them as “a joke”.<\/p>\n

December 2015: 87 people killed on one day as soldiers respond to an attack on military sites in Bujumbura.<\/p>\n

January 2016: Allegations emerge of mass graves and gang-rapes by Burundian security forces<\/p>\n

April 2016: The UN approves a resolution paving the way for a UN police force to be deployed in Burundi.<\/p>\n

\"Sepp<\/figure>\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":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[100],"byline":[249],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-24810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics-48","tag-africa","byline-bbc"],"bylines":[{"id":249,"name":"BBC","slug":"bbc","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":104}],"contributors":[{"id":249,"name":"BBC","slug":"bbc","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":104}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24810"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24810\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24810"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=24810"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=24810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}