Why Drogba Lost Election as President of Ivory Coast Football Federation

Didier Drogba Loses Bid to Become Ivorian Football Federation President

In a three-way race, the former Chelsea player received only 21 votes, with the other two contenders, Yacine Idriss Diallo (59) and Sory Diabate (50), garnering more than double his total. Diallo was victorious in the second round of voting for the presidency of the federation.

When Drogba first tried to run for office last year, his candidacy was questioned since he did not have the required backing from clubs and other interest groups, such as the players’ union and coaches’ association, whose nominations he needed to be on the ballot.

FIFA eventually intervened to dissolve the federation, placing Ivorian football under the jurisdiction of a ‘normalisation committee’ while the laws and election rules were amended.

It allowed Drogba, 44, to run, but while he had a lot of public support, he didn’t get much from the Ivorian football community.

According to a statement made by the state broadcaster earlier this week, he was accused of pulling out of a live television discussion with the other two contenders hours before it was scheduled to air. Without him, the discussion continued on.

The Africa Cup of Nations final will be held in Ivory Coast next year.

Reasons Why Drogba Lost Out in the Election

Didier Drogba’s campaign for president of the Ivory Coast Football Association (FA) failed miserably, owing to his lack of grassroots ties and the fact that he “doesn’t even visit the stadium” to watch local matches.

According to Ghanasoccernet, the Chelsea icon has also been chastised for announcing his candidacy for FA President on French television.

During the preliminary polling involving the country’s former footballers last week, Drogba failed to persuade a single delegate, out of a possible 14, to vote for him.

Didier Zokora, Drogba’s former national teammate, was one of the applicants that was passed over.

Sory Diabate, who had worked as the assistant to departing president Sidy Diallo for years, received all of the votes.

“It was a difficult choice, but they made it. Former footballers chose to favor someone who worked for them a year ago. Supporting their decision is only reasonable and common sense. Kone was a teammate of Drogba. True, but he didn’t vote for him and couldn’t possibly have voted for him. Long ago, debate captured his heart “an insider clarified

Abdoulate Traore, Youssouf Fatma, Ibrahim Bakoyoko, and Kone Ibrahim are among the ex-footballers.

Between 2002 and 2014, Drogba played 105 times for Cote d’Ivoire, scoring 65 goals and became the country’s all-time leading striker. He also has the third-most international appearances for The Elephants, behind Didier Zokora and Kolo Toure, who have 123 and 120 respectively.

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