March 10 – The elections of the Ivory Coast’s football federation (FIF) have once against been postponed, with eligibility issues prompting the new delay.
FIF had been due to elect a new chairman in 2020, but two years later those elections have still not taken place. The polls set for March have been postponed but no new date has not been set yet.
Eligibility issues have once again caused confusion. FIFA and CAF wrote to FIF to express concern about the electoral process. Mariam Dao Gabala, president of FIF’s normalisation committee, said the decision had been taken to “find an adequate response to the provision relating to sponsorships [backers for candidates]” and she added that the process would resume “as soon as possible”
In December 2020, FIFA appointed a normalization committee to run the game in the country, the mandate of which was extended. That year, Didier Drogba and another candidate were told that they were not eligible to stand for not getting the eligibility criteria, involving technicalities regarding those who had sponsored their nominations.
Drogba is Ivory Coast’s most iconic player. In 2018, he retired from the game after a stint with Phoenix Rising in the United States. He scored a record 65 goals in 105 appearances for the national team and featured in three consecutive World Cups with Ivory Coast.
In Cameroon, Samuel Eto’o became president of Fecafoot after he had first been barred first from standing over technicalities. Cameroon recently hosted the Africa Cup of Nations with eight people dying at a stampede game at the hosts’ second-round game against Comoros. Ivory Coast will host the next continental finals in 2023.
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