NAPERVILLE, Illinois — Didier Drogba scored more Premier League goals than any African player before him, earned two Golden Boots and won four Premier League titles during his time with Chelsea F.C. In April 2022, Drogba entered the Premier League Hall of Fame as a “Chelsea legend.” While most football fans know him for his fierce style of play and winning offense at Stamford Bridge, Drogba’s charity and humanitarian work in his homeland, Ivory Coast, highlight the other side of the footballer.
Drogba experienced poverty first-hand, growing up poor in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. He bounced between living with his parents in Ivory Coast and his footballer uncle in France. Eventually, he chose to remain in France to pursue his education and begin his professional football career. He later returned to Ivory Coast and played for the national team. In 2006, he led the small country to its first world cup appearance. Besides earning prestige for his nation’s football program, Drogba has also used his platform to improve Ivory Coast socially, economically and politically.
Scoring Goals for Peace
In 2002, the First Ivorian Civil War began. The war left thousands of Ivorians dead and a nation divided between support for the rebel and government forces.
On the night Drogba learned Ivory Coast would make its first appearance in the World Cup, he invited the press into the team’s dressing room where he was leading a celebratory prayer. With the cameras rolling, Drogba had more than football on his mind. He pleaded for his nation to come together as one united people and end the bloody war. Drogba’s speech quickly became iconic throughout Ivory Coast, playing repeatedly on almost every television in the country. Less than a year later, the country’s warring factions signed a ceasefire.
To demonstrate Ivory Coast’s newfound unity, Drogba had a national football match between Ivory Coast and Madagascar moved to the “symbolic center of the rebellion” Bouake, according to BBC. However, peace did not last. Five years later, long-time president Koudou Gbagbo refused to cede power after losing a contested election, leading to a crisis and 3,000 estimated dead.
Eventually, the rebels won this second civil war. After the war, Drogba joined the Truth and Reconciliation committee to support the country’s healing.
In 2018, the organization Peace and Sport appointed Drogba as vice president. Peace and Sport claim to use the structure and values inherent to sport to help build strong, lasting peace in developing nations. Drogba has been active in the field, leading their programs in countries, such as Colombia, to empower youths to sustain and build peace.
Fighting Poverty with the Pitch
Ivory Coast has struggled with poverty in the past. According to the World Bank, in 2015, around 28% of people lived under the poverty line, 53% of adults lacked a primary education and in 2019, only 0.2 physicians were working per 1,000 people in Ivory Coast
Early in his career, Drogba showed a flair for charity. In 2009, he donated £3 million from a Pepsi sponsorship toward building a hospital in Abidjan. Drogba’s charity, the Didier Drogba Foundation, made this donation. The foundation has since expanded and now organizes mobile health screenings among other activities.
Outside of promoting healthcare in Ivory Coast, Drogba’s charity also aids disadvantaged children throughout the developing country. The Didier Drogba Foundation has sponsored the distribution of school supplies and Christmas gifts for orphaned and impoverished children living in the Ivory Coast.
Drogba’s charity work has involved football to improve life in the Ivory Coast. In 2018, Drogba joined other football players with roots in Africa to meet with French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron. They announced that €15 million would be dedicated to African infrastructure, sports facilities and business startup aid.
Drogba’s support of sport in Africa was on display this past March when he helped open a state-of-the-art “Giants of Africa” basketball court in Bingerville, Ivory Coast for underprivileged and orphaned children. Though the court was built by the charity of Masai Ujiri, the president of Basketball Operations for the Toronto Raptors, Drogba joined the NBA executive to share the importance of similar projects to Africa’s future success.
Drogba’s Crusade Against Viral Diseases
Ivory Coast has struggled with numerous viral diseases. There, malaria remains the number one killer of children under 5, 380,000 people live with HIV and COVID-19 has killed over 800 people.
After contracting malaria in 2010, Drogba fought off the disease — at one point playing football while suffering from it — and returned to his home. Knowing the personal impact of Malaria, Drogba’s charity provided thousands of mosquito nets to the Ivory Coast.
Drogba has also been in multiple campaigns to fight disease. In 2009, he partnered with U2 singer Bono and Nike to raise money for HIV education, donning red laces during Premier League matches to support the Global Fund and football-based community programs.
Despite Ebola not devastating Ivory Coast, Drogba has been a leading face of Africa’s fight to recover from the pandemic. He joined other football legends in 2014 and 2015 for campaigns and the Match Against Poverty benefitting countries hurt by Ebola.
In 2021, Drogba joined the World Health Organization (WHO) as a new Goodwill Ambassador. There, he has promoted the importance of personal fitness and physical activity, which the WHO said, if increased, could prevent up to 5 million deaths each year.
