oh. how lovely.
Fifa's president Sepp Blatter meets Zimbabwe dictator Robert Mugabe
• Blatter carries out two-day visit to country
• Meets Mugabe and pledges $1m over four years
- Associated Press
- guardian.co.uk,
Sepp Blatter's decision to meet the Zimbabwe dictator Robert Mugabe has raised eyebrows. Photograph: Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP
Fifa's Sepp Blatter met the Zimbabwe president, Robert Mugabe, for talks on Monday after the head of world football arrived for a two-day visit to a country where the game is mired in a match-fixing controversy.
Blatter, who arrived in Harare on a private jet, inspected training facilities that urgently need funding amid Zimbabwe's troubled economy, and pledged $1m (£620,575) over four years for football schemes in the country. Another $500,000 (£310,300) will be provided to support training under Fifa's worldwide Goal project.
"Football is more than kicking a ball," Blatter said at a news conference. "I do not come to Africa to impose European football, I respect particularities and culture. Africa has more talent than Brazil but Africa's talent is not yet developed." [pls note: Brazil is a country, Africa is a continent]
Blatter, who arrived in Harare on a private jet, inspected training facilities that urgently need funding amid Zimbabwe's troubled economy, and pledged $1m (£620,575) over four years for football schemes in the country. Another $500,000 (£310,300) will be provided to support training under Fifa's worldwide Goal project.
"Football is more than kicking a ball," Blatter said at a news conference. "I do not come to Africa to impose European football, I respect particularities and culture. Africa has more talent than Brazil but Africa's talent is not yet developed." [pls note: Brazil is a country, Africa is a continent]
Blatter had been scheduled to accompany Mugabe to a women's international match against Malawi, but officials said later that Mugabe did not attend because of a scheduling conflict.
Source 1 Source 2
Oh also apparently any non-state or fifa controlled media were banned from covering the meeting.
Hanging out with despots who commit crimes against humanity in countries that don't even have their own currency anymore? NBD.