It's official. Didier Drogba submitted his candidacy for the presidency of the Ivorian Football Federation (FIF) on Saturday August 1 in Abidjan. The former star striker has promised to contribute to the rebirth of this king sport in CĂ´te d'Ivoire which, according to him, "is going badly".
In mid-July, the former captain of the Ivorian Elephants suffered a severe blow when the Association of Ivorian footballers (AFI) refused to sponsor him. Since then, he has nevertheless managed to secure eight sponsorships and the support of one of the five interest groups needed to run for the election.
This is the moment,
May God accompany us 🇨🇮🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/mGJrs4PEtd
"I am back and determined to make a contribution to the building"
"It is not so much being president of the FIF that interests me, but it is the mission that binds this function," said the former star striker of Olympique de Marseille and Chelsea, in front of a large crowd . "Our football is going badly (...), we are committed to contributing to the rebirth of Ivorian football", continued the 41-year-old 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 candidacies.
In addition to Didier Drogba, Idriss Diallo, former third 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 submitted their candidacy.
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.
With AFP
The summary of the week France 24 invites you to come back to the news that marked the week
I subscribeTake international news everywhere with you! Download the France 24 application
google-play-badge_FR