Didier Drogba, one of the greatest strikers in the history of the Premier League, has donated his foundation’s medical facilities to his home land Cote d’Ivorie (Ivory Coast) government, to aid their fight against the county’s coronavirus crisis.
The Laurent Pokou Hospital - which was built from funds donated by the former Chelsea player – in Attecoube Abidjan, is named after the country’s former player and coach who died in 2009.
Drogba made the donation to the government in the presence of the Major of Abidjan, Vincent Toh Bi Irie and Mariam Breka, who is the director of the Drogba Foundation.
The Ivory Coast recorded 566 Covid-19 cases – the second highest in West Africa - with a registered total of four deaths.
Toh Bi Irie said: “We thank Didier for his donation, which is seen as a huge act of patriotism.
The hospital is yet to be fully completed, but the government is expected to make it fully functional for purpose very soon.
In the wake of the worldwide pandemic, Drogba, the west London club’s record goal scorer, made a scathing indictment of French doctors.
Along with other African footballing legend, including; Ghanaian international Christian Atsu, Cameroon great, Samuel Et’o and former Senegal star, Demba Ba, he denounced remarks made by two leading French medical experts who suggested that any first testing for any anti-coronavirus drugs should be carried out in Africa.
The football legends were incensed by the remarks that were made on French TV.
Responding to the denunciation, Newcastle United winger, Atsu, posted on his twitter: “During the programme on French television station LCT, professor Jean-Paul Mira, head of the intensive care unit at Cochin Hospital (Paris) and professor Camille Locht, research director at Inserm suggested the effectiveness of the vaccine should be tested in Africa.”
On his twitter, Drogba posted: “It is totally inconceivable we keep on cautioning this. Africa isn’t a testing lab. I would like to vividly denounce those demeaning, false and most of all deeply racist worlds. Help us save Africa with the current ongoing COVID 19 and flatten the curves.”
