November 23 – Ivorian FA boss Sidy Augustin Diallo has died of the coronavirus aged 61.
Diallo, who has been president of the Ivory Coast FA since 2011, tested positive for the virus November 9 and was confirmed dead on Saturday. Tributes have been pouring in from confederation colleagues across the region.
Diallo had long been a football leader in the Ivory Coast having first been elected as a FIF vice president in 1991-94.
In 2015, under his presidency, Ivory Coast won their second and was was confirmed dead on Saturday after contracting coronavirus a fortnight ago
The Confederation of African Football Caf) alongside other football federations across the continent have sent their condolences to the Ivorian Football Federation (FIF) following the death of its president Sidy Augustin Diallo.
Diallo was confirmed dead on Saturday, two weeks after he tested positive for coronavirus.
Diallo began his career in football in the early 1980s with the Stella d’Adjame club that won the WAFU Cup in 1981. He became a prominent leader in Ivorian football in the early 1990s and was first elected the vice-president of the FIF from 1991 to 1994, before he won the Ivorian FA presidency in 2011.
During his presidency Ivory Coast cemented their reputation as a leading African nation, winning the Africa Cup of Nations in 2015.
Having served two terms as president, Diallo was to stand down at the upcoming elections. A champion of his nation, Diallo’s replacement has become a source of controversy with FIFA appearing to support the insertion of the country’s record goalscorer Didier Drogba as the new president. Drogba does not have the support of local stakeholders and is criticised for only being interested in the country’s game at national team level.
That is a criticism that could never have been made of Diallo who had worked his way to the top of the Ivorian football hierarchy from the local club game.
In one of his last acts Confederation of African president before his just announced ban, Ahmad paid tribute to Diallo saying: “For the past 30 years, Mr. Augustin Sidy Diallo served football with immense passion, and his name will remain closely linked to numerous successes of the Ivorian national team.”
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