Drogba promises "a new era" if he is elected president of the Ivorian Federation
Didier Drogba during his press conference presenting his program for the election to the presidency of the FIF, on April 18.
AFP - ISSOUF SANOGO
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
Former Ivorian star striker Didier Drogba, promised this Monday, April 18 "a new era" if he is elected Saturday president of the Ivorian Football Federation (FIF).
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“
After April 23, a new era will begin for Ivorian football
,” Didier Drogba told a press conference in Abidjan, showing confidence in his victory over his two opponents, former senior FIF officials Idriss Diallo and Sory Diabaté.
"
I think I have every chance of winning this election
," he said, highlighting "
the work done by his staff
" and his program called "Renaissance".
"
My priority after my election will be to unite, because Côte d'Ivoire has experienced too many crises that have made us miss qualification for two World Cups
," he added.
The former captain of the Elephants intends to reorganize Ivorian football from top to bottom and has promised an increase in subsidies to the clubs whose presidents are called upon to elect the new leader of the FIF.
“
Club presidents have seen that my program will benefit them.
As for the former players, we are going to put them on a mission to share their experiences with the youngest
, ”he assured.
Far from being won in advance
MM. Drogba, Diallo and Diabaté were officially selected on Saturday as candidates
- among six initially - to stand for the presidency of the FIF, whose election will be held on Saturday in the Ivorian administrative capital Yamoussoukro.
However, the election of the new president will only be definitively validated once the results of an "
integrity investigation
" to which they must submit are known.
Despite his status as an Ivorian football icon and the support of the international federation, Didier Drogba's election is not a foregone conclusion: he has spent most of his professional life abroad while his two rivals know perfectly the workings and functioning of the FIF and the clubs of Côte d'Ivoire.
“
He considers that being a star is enough
”
For his opponents, Didier Drogba "
does not make ground, he considers that being a star is enough and does not go to see the voters, that is to say the club presidents
", explains the entourage of one of the candidates.
And to add: “
It was not damned to collect the number of sponsorships necessary in two years, it was even necessary to lower the number of sponsorships to four so that it could present itself
”.
The election of the president of this federation has already been postponed many times since 2020,
due to an imbroglio on the sponsorship system for candidates
.
The FIF had been placed under
supervision
in December 2020 by FIFA, which has since set up a “Standardization Committee”.
(With AFP)
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