Didier Drogba was defeated in the first round of voting for the new president of the Ivorian Football Federation (FIF) on Saturday.
Yacine Idriss Diallo emerged as the winner with a mandate of four years after edging former vice-president Sory Diabate by 63 votes to 61.
Drogba failed to progress to the second round after coming in the initial stage with 21 votes behind Diabate (50 votes) and Diallo (59 votes).
The Chelsea legend endured a rocky ambition as his candidacy was first rejected by the country’s football normalisation committee in August 2020 before he was later cleared to contest this month.
Drogba was hoping to follow in the footsteps of ex-Cameroon captain Samuel Eto’o who is currently the President of the Cameroonian Football Federation (FECAFOOT).
The 44-year-old who retired from international football in 2014, is still Ivory Coast’s all-time top scorer with 65 goals after playing over a century of games for the country.
