{"id":2702,"date":"2021-06-30T23:01:35","date_gmt":"2021-06-30T22:01:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/?p=2702"},"modified":"2022-04-09T21:01:12","modified_gmt":"2022-04-09T20:01:12","slug":"didier-drogbas-legacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/2021\/06\/30\/didier-drogbas-legacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Didier Drogba\u2019s Legacy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Satish Sekar \u00a9 Satish Sekar (February 14th<\/sup> 2021)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe evil that men do lives after them. The good is oft interred with their bones.\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Immense<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Ivory Coast\u2019s highest scorer in international football is an African legend \u2013 a football one too. Didier Drogba will always be remembered fondly by Chelsea fans and those of Ivory Coast too for his exploits on the pitch. But his exploits off the pitch are worthy of recognition and respect too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Few footballers can claim to have such clout that they secured a ceasefire in a war-torn country by demanding it as a condition to come there. Drogba can make that claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He once told warring factions in la C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire (Ivory Coast) that if they did not agree to a ceasefire he would not come there. They caved in and agreed to the ceasefire. It was not the only time that he was part of efforts for peace in Ivory Coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Taking a Knee for Peace<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In 2005 the Elephants qualified for a World Cup for the first time by beating Sudan 3-1.With a brutal civil war raging in Ivory Coast, Drogba and other players decided to speak up for peace. At the instigation of the Elephants\u2019 captain Cyrille Domoraud, Drogba addressed media thus:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMen and women of the Ivory Coast; from the north, south, centre and west, we proved today that all Ivorians can coexist and play together with a shared objective: to qualify for the World Cup,\u201d Drogba said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe promised you that the celebration would unite the people. Today, we beg you, please \u2013 on our knees \u2013 forgive, forgive, forgive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe one country in Africa with so many riches must not descend into war like this. Please, lay down all weapons. Hold elections, organise elections. All will be better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so, the war had claimed many lives, displaced many, many more, causing untold misery entered a new stage. The warring factions began talks and two years later the five year-long war finally ended. Ivorian footballers, especially Drogba \u2013 their star player \u2013 played a vital role in achieving that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Less than a decade later Mali\u2019s Seydou Keita used his platform at AFCON to tearfully call for peace in his country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Exceptional Gesture<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The contribution of Ivorian footballers to the cause of peace is exceptional, especially when it is borne in mind that some of them were treated as pariahs just five years earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1999 Henri Konan B\u00e9die was removed from power \u2013 General Robert Gu\u00e9\u00ef had been removed from government and the military two years earlier. Gu\u00e9\u00ef was installed as the head of government. Elections were eventually organised with Laurent Gbagbo the only permitted opponent. Gbagbo won easily but Gu\u00e9\u00ef refused to accept the result. The Ivory Cost slid towards civil war which broke out in 2002. Gu\u00e9\u00ef was one of the first casualties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a very poor performance, by their standards, in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in 2000 (hosted by Ghana and Nigeria) the Ivorians were sent packing 3-0 by Cameroon, the eventual champions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gue\u00ef was incensed and imprisoned footballers for three weeks at the Zambarko Military Camp, subjecting them to military discipline. Among those detained was Bonaventure Kalou, currently the Mayor of Vavou. Players, including Drogba and Kalou took a knee for peace in their country long before Black Lives Matter was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

His Legacy<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Drogba was not alone but now, his exploits on the pitch over, Drogba wants to become President of the Ivorian FA. He lacks administrative experience and failed to get the necessary nominations to stand. That should have ended the matter, but Drogba was determined and contested it. He eventually secured the support needed to meet the requirements and was declared eligible. FIFA intervened as the F\u00e9d\u00e9ration Ivorienne de Football (Ivory Coast\u2019s FA) tried to establish a new Electoral Commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FIFA decided to cancel the Ivorian FA\u2019s Extraordinary General Meeting and turn it into an arbitration meeting instead. That failed and just before Christmas 2020 a Normalisation Committee was imposed on the Ivory Coast\u2019s football. The final effect this will have on Drogba\u2019s<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/a> From Mark Antony\u2019s oration for Julius C\u00e6sar in Willim Shakespeare\u2019s play, Julius C\u00e6sar<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Satish Sekar \u00a9 Satish Sekar (February 14th 2021) \u201cThe evil that men do lives after them. The good is oft interred with their bones.\u201d[1] Immense [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3333,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16,14,4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2702"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2702"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2702\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3363,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2702\/revisions\/3363"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}