• Blatter carries out two-day visit to country • Meets Mugabe and pledges $1m over four years

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."

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.