DIDIER DROGBA LOST IVORIAN FOOTBALL FEDERATION PRESIDENCY

Businessman Idriss Diallo was elected Saturday as head of the Ivorian Football Federation (FIF), in an election in the capital Yamoussoukro where former star striker Didier Drogba was eliminated in the first round.

Mr. Diallo, a senior FIF official in the 2000s, received 63 votes against 61 for his rival in the second round, Sory Diabaté, another executive of the institution. In the first round, the two men had largely overtaken Didier Drogba who had collected only 21 votes out of 130. Drogba has been criticized in recent weeks for not being conversant with local soccer and for having made a minimal campaign, without sufficiently campaigning on the ground.

It had been repeatedly postponed since 2020, because of a setback in the system of sponsorship of candidates that had then blocked the candidacy of Didier Drogba. FIF was placed under supervision in December 2020 by Fifa, which then installed a "Normalization Committee". The new president of the institution, a former leader of the largest national club Asec Mimosas from 1984 to 1998 will have the task of restoring Ivorian soccer back to its initial glory.

He will have to appoint a new national head coach since the contract with Patrice Beaumelle has not been renewed. Côte d'ivoire did not qualify for the World Cup in 2018 and 2022 after it was eliminated in the AFCON quarter-finals in the last two competitions.

The country will host the next CAN from June 23 to July 23, 2023.

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has been named the Football Writers' Association Men's Footballer of the Year for 2021/22. Salah, 29, has contributed a hugely impressive 22 goals and 13 assists in just 31 Premier League games to help propel Jurgen Klopp's side to second in the table, just a point behind champions Man City with just five games left this season. And in total, the Egypt international has been involved in 30 goals and 14 assists in only 44 matches in all competitions, a run of form that has so far helped Liverpool win the League Cup, as well as reach the final of the FA Cup and the semi-finals of the Champions League.

Salah, who succeeds last year's winner, City defender Ruben Dias, is also the current top scorer in the Premier League after netting 22 times, five more than Heung-min Son and Cristiano Ronaldo, while the forward is also the leading assist maker in the top flight having managed one more than team-mate Trent Alexander-arnold.