Didier Drogba, candidate for the presidency of the Ivorian Football Federation, confided his desire to reform the discipline in his country.
“After April 23, a new era will begin for Ivorian football,” said the former OM and Chelsea striker in particular during a press conference in Abidjan, showing confidence in his victory against his two opponents, former senior officials of the FIF, Idriss Diallo and Sory Diabaté.
“I think I have every chance of winning this election,” said Didier Drogba, 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.
An election not won in advance
He intends to reorganize Ivorian football from top to bottom and has promised an increase in subsidies to clubs whose presidents are called upon to elect the new leader of the FIF.
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 the functioning of the FIF and the clubs of Côte d’Ivoire.
The election of the FIF president 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 installed a “Standardization Committee”.