Former Ivory Coast International and Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has received an honorary degree in his home country due to his immense contribution to the growth of football and restoration of stability in the West African nation.
Last year the 43 year old submitted his candidacy to lead the football governing body but he received no backing from the players’ representative body.
Ex teammate and former Barcelona and Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure castigated the stance by the Ivory Coast Footballers Association (AFI) not to support former national team captain in his bid to become the country’s FA President.
In 2005, Ivory Coast battled to qualify for their first ever World Cup.
After beating Sudan, the Elephants waited anxiously to learn if Cameroon had failed to achieve victory over Egypt, a scenario which would see the Ivorians’ wildest dreams come true.
With the score 1-1, Cameroon were awarded an injury-time penalty and it looked as if Ivory Coast would be absent from football’s biggest tournament once again.
However, Pierre Wome missed his effort from the spot, securing World Cup qualification for the Ivorians.
Unsurprisingly, the Ivory Coast team celebrated like crazy, but talisman Didier Drogba quickly turned his attention to the civil war that had raged in his homeland since 2002.
The Ivorian national team won the Africa Cup of Nations in Senegal in 1992 and won a second in 2015,a year after the ex Champions league winner with Chelsea had announced his retirement from international football after earning a record 104 caps.
