Abidjan (AFP)
The former football star Didier Drogba officially filed on Saturday in Abidjan his candidacy for the presidency of the Ivorian Football Federation (FIF), promising to contribute to the rebirth of this king sport in Côte d'Ivoire which according to him "goes wrong".
The former captain of the Ivorian Elephants suffered a hard blow in mid-July, when the Association des footballeurs ivoiriens (AFI) refused to sponsor him, but he managed to obtain eight sponsorships and the support of one of the five groups of interest needed to apply for the election.
"It is not so much being president of the FIF that interests me, but it is the mission which binds this function", affirmed in front of a large crowd the former star striker of Olympique de Marseille and Chelsea, 41 years old.
"Our football is going badly (...) we are committed to contributing to the rebirth of Ivorian football", continued the player, retired since the end of 2018.
"I am back and determined to contribute my stone to the edifice, to the renewal and to the development of Ivorian football" he added, believing that "it is very important for me to give back to Ivorian football, everything that he gave me ".
After submitting the files, the electoral commission has five days to analyze and validate the various candidacy files.
In addition to Drogba, Idriss Diallo, former 3rd vice-president of the FIF, supported by the Footballers Association, and the current vice-president of the Federation and president of the League Sory Diabaté have already applied.
Last week, the International Federation of Professional Footballers' Associations (Fifpro) suspended AFI for "non-compliance with the law" after its refusal to support Didier Drogba's candidacy for the head of the FIF.
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