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Blatter offers Kissinger anti-corruption role

Blatter, re-elected unopposed earlier this week with FIFA battered by corruption allegations, immediately created a Solutions Committee and named 88-year-old Kissinger as someone he would like to see involved in the anti-corruption watchdog.

"He's not been specific, except to say he wants to create a group of wise men to deal with issues which may arise," Kissinger told BBC Radio 5 Live, referring to the approach from Blatter.

"If it can help, I'd be willing to participate but we need to know other participants and terms of reference."

Kissinger, who won the Nobel Peace prize in 1973 and was a major figure in the Richard Nixon administration, is a keen football fan who was involved in the United States' successful bid to host the 1994 World Cup.

He was also a member of the reform panel set up by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after the scandal over Salt Lake City's winning bid to host the 2002 winter Olympics.

The crisis that hit FIFA over the last month centred on Asian Football Confederation (AFC) chief Mohamed Bin Hammam's ultimately aborted campaign to take on Blatter in the election and it also re-ignited the debate over the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Bin Hammam's home country Qatar.