You win some, you lose some. Once an awe-inspiring striker for Chelsea, Marseille and Ivory Coast, Didier Drogba won’t become the new president of the Ivorian Football Federation (FIF). Well, at least not this year.The 2012 UEFA Champions League winner contested the seat with two other football officials – Idriss Yacine Diallo and Sory Diabate. After the initial vote, Diallo and Diabate will challenge the second draw of the ballot – unlike Drogba.Sunday, 16.00: (2.35) Mazembe (3.00) Pyramids (3.10)The former Elephants captain polled 21 votes in the first round to exit the race. Yacine Idriss Diallo had the highest number of votes with 59 votes, followed by Sory Diabate with 50 votes. The winner will run the football federation for the next five years.Despite the support of football fans in his homeland, Drogba was undone by his lack of knowledge of the political circumstances of local football. He failed to convince the presidents of Ivorian clubs who constituted the overwhelming majority of voters. In recent weeks, he has been criticised for not knowing enough about local football and for having carried out a largely underwhelming election campaign.Drogba: Leave my Chelsea alone!This election is supposed to end a long governance crisis at the head of the FIF. It was postponed many times since 2020 due to a dispute on the candidate sponsorship system, which had then blocked Drogba’s candidacy. The FIF had been put under FIFA supervision in December 2020, which had set up a “Standardization Committee”.The legendary striker will have to wait at least four years before running again.
