Côte d'Ivoire - Football Association (FIF) President, Sidy Diallo dies in Abidjan

Family sources are today confirming the death of Augustin Sidy Diallo, Ivory Coast FA President, from complications of COVID-19. Sidy Diallo died after a short illness. He was 61.

Mr Diallo took the helm of the "Glasshouse of Treichville", the FIF headquarters in 2011 when former president Jacques Anoma was forced into a short exile during the 2010 civil war.

As an influential member of the Ivorian Football Association under the late Dieng Ousseynou, then Jacques Anouma, Augustin Sidy Diallo had football in his veins.

After a short stint at Stella Club Ajamé when the club won the UFOA cup, the businessman's passion for football led him to the Ivorian Football Association as vice-president from 1991 to 1994, with a crowning success with the Elephants in Senegal 1992.

He returned to the glasshouse in 2002 to help Jacques Anouma revive Ivorian football. It was another success story. Ivory Coast came close to a second trophy in Egypt (2006). Better still, the Elephants qualified for the first time for a World Cup final phase with a team of superstars dubbed the golden generation, with the likes of Didier Drogba, Yaya Toure and Didier Zokora.

Mr Diallo retired from football in 2007 for personal reasons, before returning to claim the Afcon trophy in 2015. Sidi Diallo leaves behind a football association marred in controversy, after former skipper and star player Didier Drogba's candidacy to succeed him was rejected late last August. Fifa has been looking into the matter.
Mr Diallo will be sorely missed.

Claude B. Djaquis

Editor-In-Chief, ivorycoasttribune.com