Fifa boss Sepp Blatter has sent a note of thanks to French president Jacques Chirac after he intervened to help rescue the squads of three national teams caught up in a mutiny in Ivory Coast.

The squads of Senegal, Gambia and Sierra Leone were trapped in a hotel in Bouake after a military uprising.

They were rescued after nine days by French troops from a military detachment in Ivory Coast.

Seven Fifa referees and the presidents of the Senegal and Benin FAs were also released and flown home.

"On behalf of Fifa and myself, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to you personally and to your country and my very sincere thanks for this act of humanity," Blatter's note to Chirac stated.

The French government's intervention "will not be forgotten", he added.