FIF (CIV) - Drogba Fails in His Bid To Win Presidency of Football Federation

FIF election scandal - Drogba loses to a candidate whose integrity may be under scrutiny by FIFA

Didier Drogba has failed in his bid to become the new president of Ivory Coast football federation.

M. Yacine Idriss Diallo won after beating Sory Diabaté by two votes in the second round of voting.

The former Chelsea star exited the race in the first round with just 21 votes. “We have a new president , so we must support him in his task”, said Drogba in a brief statement to the press. 

M. Diallo now has a four-year mandate to relaunch the ivorian depleted football. He said it was “a free and transparent election, a tight ballot where there was a winner, the basic principle of democracy. Once the winner is known, everyone must stand by their side to move forward.”

In December 2020, FIFA appointed a normalisation committee to run the game in the country, the mandate of which was extended. That year, Drogba and another candidate were told that they were not eligible to stand in the presidential elections for not meeting the eligibility criteria, involving technicalities regarding those who had sponsored their nominations. Time and again the elections were delayed.

The new president has promised that he will “ensure that  the Ivorian football federation returns to the fore in Africa and the world”. 

Next year, Ivory Coast will host the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. 

As for Drogba, he may have failed in a bid to topple an old regime of which the elected president Yassin Idriss Diallo has been a prominent  member for the last two decades, but he won the heart of a Nation by highlighting the role of a "Mafia" at the helm of the federation.

Only last week, on national television, Diallo was accused by candidate Sory Diabate of being the alleged culprit in the disappearance of 2billion francs CFA. " I do not know what M. Diabate is talking about", he replied when a bemused journalist prompted him to defend himself. That same evening, Mr Diabate, former Vice-president of the Sidi Diallo regime, admitted that 4billions Francs CFA had vanished from the FIF coffers and that all files relating to a subsequent audit in the matter were swept to sea during a flood. Once again, stunned viewers could not hide their embarrassment before such a blatant display of arrogance and disrespect for the public after swindling funds allocated to the game by FIFA and taxpayers.

Mrs Dao Gabala reiterated the position of FIFA to publish the results of the ethics committee, the sole body able to validate Saturday's election. Now, the country awaits the outcome of those crucial enquiries to rid them off once and for all, of decades of looting by the very people elected to serve them.

Perhaps when all is said and done, the former Chelsea great will be able to stage that one last-minute comeback to finish the job where he left it off for the benefit of Ivory Coast and African football.

Published By Claude Djaquis

on 26/04/[email protected]:01AM

Ivorycoasttribune.com