Former Chelsea star Didier Drogba is reportedly offering $300,000 to each of the 16 First Division clubs in Cote d’Ivoire as he faces stiff competition to become president of the Ivory Coast Football Federation.
A clear preference of FIFA, Drogba faces two other Ivorian FA insiders who, despite not as well resourced, are still formidable enough to render the Saturday election unpredictable.
These were disclosed on DNT’s Diaspora Weekly by Julius Ouya who is the television network’s correspondent covering the francophone countries in Africa.
Drogba is also reported to be offering $250,000 to the second division teams and $150,000 to the third division teams if elected.
In addition to the hefty amount offered to the clubs, Drogba has promised a brand new bus each for these clubs and is touting a plan that would include the introduction of mobile stadia to make sure that playing fields are all upgraded.
The Ivorian entertainment industry expectedly has jumped on the Drogba bandwagon with busloads of supporters invading the capital city of Yamoussoukro to attend free multi-artist concerts planned for the eve of the Saturday election.
Didier Yves Drogba Tébily is the all-time top scorer and former captain of the Ivory Coast national team. He is best known for his career at Chelsea, for whom he has scored more goals than any other foreign player and is currently the club’s fourth highest goal scorer of all time.
Drogba was named in the Chelsea team of the 2010–2020 decade by Chelsea’s fans. He was named African Footballer of the Year twice, winning the accolade in 2006 and 2009.
DNT News, Accra
