Since November 2020, the presidency of the Ivorian Football Federation (FIF) has been vacant. And while the election was to be held on March 23, now it has been postponed again.
Between CAF, FIFA, the FIF Normalization Committee (CN-FIF) and its president Mariam Dao Gabala, as well as the candidates for the presidency of the FIF — Idriss Diallo, Dider Drogba and Sory Diabaté — it is the cacophony. The different parties are trying to speed up for some, to slow down for others, the election of the new president of the Ivorian Football Federation (FIF). Since the death of Augustin Sidy Diallo in 2020, the post has been vacant.
But while the election of the new president of the FIF was to be held on March 23, the promulgation of new rules for candidacies have once again put a stop to the process.
It all started when, on February 25, the bosses of the clubs of the three football divisions in Côte d'Ivoire met in a General Assembly. They then approved the new statutes of the federation, as well as the electoral code. Problem: the new statutes contained a rule of sponsorship of presidential candidates by clubs, with categorization.
Second day of the extraordinary GA of the @FIFCI_tweet
Only the adoption of the statutes and the draft electoral code can lead us to the election and thus, towards the end of the crisis of Ivorian football 🇨🇮
Failing this, normalization is likely to be prolonged and that would be a shame. 🤷🏾♂️ pic.twitter.com/hMIXcZOiEN- Didier Drogba (@didierdrogba) February 26, 2022
All against Didier Drogba
The first protests came from CAF and FIFA. In a letter addressed to the head of the Standardization Committee, the football authorities deplore these new measures.
"As drafted, article 47 paragraph 3 of the new statutes not only maintains a sponsorship system that CAF and FIFA wanted to exclude, but it provides for sponsorship with categorization", denounce CAF and FIFA. And the authorities continue: "We believe that such a clause creates an imbalance in favor of some affiliated members of Ligue 1".
Indeed, the new sponsorship rules require that of three clubs playing in the first division for each candidate. However, with the known and public scuffles between one of the candidates - the star Didier Drogba - and the Ligue 1 clubs, the rules clearly disadvantage the former player.
But, above all, the sponsorship rules benefit Sory Diabaté, who was the president of the Professional Football League. Diabaté had, in particular at the start of the year, offered their stay and tickets for the entire CAN 2021 in Cameroon to a dozen club presidents.
This Tuesday, March 8, the FIF Standardization Committee therefore announced "the suspension of the electoral process" of the new president of the Ivorian body. A decision by the president of the CN-FIF, Mariam Dao Gabala, to bring back the status quo. But also a decision that made people unhappy.
FIF ELECTION 🇨🇮| WHAT IS YOUR CHOICE? pic.twitter.com/4a7lqDsI7i
— First Mag🗞️🚩 (@FirstMagLeVrai) March 3, 2022
Football, the big loser
FIFA and CAF have urged the FIF General Assembly to reconvene and once again change the sponsorship rules. But the presidents of the clubs refused en bloc, accusing both CAF and FIFA of interference, and Mariam Dao Gabala of partiality for the benefit of Drogba.
Either way, it will be unlikely that the overhaul of the legal framework and the election of the president of the FIF will take place in time. But this insoluble problem, which has lasted for more than a year and a half, has given rise to another football showdown, which is reminiscent of that surrounding the race for the presidency of Cameroonian Fecafoot by Samuel Eto'o.
A blow for Ivorian football especially, which skates locally but also internationally. After a nice run in the group stage, the Ivorian selection was eliminated in the round of 2015 against Egypt. Since CAN 1998, won by the Elephants, and the XNUMX African Champions League won by ASEC Mimosas, Ivorian football continues to disappoint. And it is clear that the imbroglio within the FIF is no stranger to this dark period for Ivorian football.