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Drogba demonstrates support for anti-racism campaigning.

Didier Drogba recently invited Stéphane Burchkalter, secretary general of FIFPro Division Africa, and Cyrille Domoraud, his compatriot and former Côte d’Ivoire team mate, who is also the brand new president of the Association of Ivorian Footballers (AFI), to meet him in London on the occasion of a League Cup game.

No one could refuse an invitation like that! That was the reaction of Stéphane Burchkalter, when Didier Drogba, the Ivorian international who plays for Chelsea and is vice-president of the newly created AFI, invited him to meet him in London.

The League Cup match that The Blues won 4-0 against Bolton Wanderers, with Drogba scoring the fourth goal, was a suitable occasion.

As soon as the game ended, Drogba exchanged his football outfit for the suit of a committed trade unionist. Obviously, he is passionately interested in the development of the AFI, the association that he founded last June along with Domoraud, Aruna Dindane and Kolo Touré.

Convinced that increasing professionalism in Africa calls for the unionization of players, the Ivorian team captain makes it very clear that the struggle to achieve genuine status, and a minimum wage in particular, is on behalf of the whole African continent and not just his own country.

Division Africa’s significant and well known advances have accordingly captured his full attention. His commitment to the AFI and his determination to support FIFPro’s campaigns make Didier Drogba a powerful advocate and an asset to the work of all of our associations.

That’s no surprise for FIFPro! The centre forward has always responded promptly to our appeals, so it was natural for him to join a dream team to state loudly and clearly on a DVD his loathing for racism, a vile creature that must find no place in the world of football. The opportunity was taken to present him in London with the DVD produced last June in support of FIFPro’s new anti-racism project, headed by Tony Higgins.

Burchkalter also gave the AFI vice-president a copy of the booklet Winning in Africa with African Footballers, published as part of FIFPro Division Africa’s campaign. Drogba’s contribution to the booklet is testimony to his unfailing solidarity with all African footballers.

Source: FIFPro