Drogba stops war, Peacemaker of Africa

When you see World cup 2014, please watch Didier Drogba, 36 years old player of Côte d'Ivoire. He is not an ordinary footballer and, as it turned out, and I am sure you will be touched after reading what he has done for his country's peace.

Drogba was the face of his country; the symbol of a new, post-civil war Ivory Coast. What was yet to emerge, however, was his pivotal role in bringing about that peace. Civil war had been raging for five years when, moments after leading his nation to the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany back in October 2005, Drogba picked up a microphone in the dressing room and, surrounded by his team-mates, fell to his knees live on national television. He begged both warring factions to lay down their arms and, within a week, his bold wish had been granted. "It was just something I did instinctively," he explained. "All the players hated what was happening to our country and reaching the World Cup was the perfect emotional wave on which to ride."

"Seeing both leaders side by side for the national anthems was very special," Didier said. "I felt then that that the Ivory Coast was born again."

Many footballers have used their influence to great effect in recent years, whether by putting their name to an inner city project or sponsoring a charity, but none has ever stopped a country tearing itself apart. Truth be told, no other player could. Drogba is a god to the Ivorian people, not just because he is a famous footballer, but also because he is someone who speaks for the  masses. He is in tune with the average Ivorian. "Of course," he said, "because above all I am one of them."

"I have won many trophies in my time," he explained, "but nothing will ever top helping win the battle for peace in my country. I am so proud because today in the Ivory Coast we do not need a piece of silverware to celebrate."

Didier Drigba won a global humanitarian award; earlier this year he was chosen to become one of an 11-strong Truth, Reconciliation and Dialogue Commission, based on the successful South African model, to try to help heal the wounds of this year's civil war in his homeland. "If I wasn't optimistic I wouldn't be there," said Drogba, speaking about his appointment in September to represent the views of his country's diaspora. "It's the first step. We want peace to last, not to be just words, and it's important that after this situation people can be able to sit together, speak and think about why we ended up with a civil war."

This year's brief but bloody division, in which more than 3,000 were killed as violence erupted in the wake of disputed elections, was the second civil war to devastate the country within a decade and Drogba has been a leading and willing figure in trying to bring each to an end. Football has played a unifying role in Ivory Coast. In 2007, Drogba pushed for a qualifier for the African Nations Cup to be played in Bouake, the rebel stronghold. That came a year after Drogba and his team-mates dropped to their knees live on television in the dressing room shortly after the national side had qualified for their first World Cup in Germany and pleaded with the warring factions to talk.





"We had just qualified for the World Cup," said Drogba, "and all the players only wanted one thing – Ivory Coast to be united. The country was divided in two, but we knew we were calling people in the country and they were saying, 'When Ivory Coast is playing the country is united. People who don't [normally] talk to each other, when there is a goal they celebrate together.' We were trying to use this and send the message to our politicians to sit down and talk and try to find some solutions.




"I knew that we could bring a lot of people together. More than politicians. The country is divided because of politicians; we are playing football, we are running behind a ball, and we managed to bring people together."
His role has been praised by Tony Blair, now chairman of ambassadors for Beyond Sport, the body that gave Drogba the humanitarian award. Blair describes Drogba as "a powerful, articulate persuader". Blair said: "Sport can reach parts politicians can't reach. It can help in bringing divided conflicts together in a way nothing else can."




Drogba was born in Abidjan, the capital, and grew up partly there and partly in the care of his uncle, a lower league footballer who played in France. Drogba too learnt his trade there, turning out for Le Mans, Guingamp and Marseilles before crossing the Channel seven years ago, but there has never been a question as to where his loyalties lay. Now his country's record goalscorer, with 50, and the figurehead of the best team Ivory Coast has assembled, he has become the nation's most recognisable figure. "People want to say, 'Didier is going into politics, that this is too complicated for him'. But it's not, it's not," says Drogba as part of a BBC documentary made by Christian Purslow, Liverpool's former chief executive, exploring football's influence beyond the playing field. "It's just a kid from Côte d'Ivoire who wants to help his country. I am not a politician, I will never be. But if I can help my country I will do anything.
"I'm not here to judge the ex-president or the new one. The only thing I can say is that the population suffered a lot. A lot of people have been killed. That's why it was necessary for us to speak. I've suffered from this war but it's easy for me to come out and say 'My village has been attacked' or 'This guy from my family died'. But what about the others? The other people who cannot talk. They all suffer."


* Original source of the news : 

Didier Drogba brings peace to the Ivory Coast

http://bit.ly/1lGETOe

♥ 드록바는 2006년 코트디부아르를 첫 월드컵 무대로 이끈 뒤 "일주일만이라도 전쟁을 멈추자"는 말로 5년간 이어지던 코트디부아르의 내전을 종식시켰다.

2004년부터 잉글랜드 프리미어리그 명문 '첼시'에서 활동하며 코트디부아르의 '국민 영웅'으로 등극했던 드록바는 2006년 독일 월드컵 본선 진출 티켓을 획득한 뒤 TV카메라 앞에 무릎을 꿇었다.

그는 "사랑하는 조국 여러분, 적어도 일주일만이라도 무기를 내려놓고 전쟁을 멈춰달라"고 호소했다. 그의 간청에 코트디부아르 정부군과 반군은 2002년부터 이어지던 내전을 멈췄고, 이듬해인 2007년 결국 평화협정을 체결하기에 이르렀다.

이 외에도 드록바는 300만파운드(약 51억원)를 들여 자신의 고향 아비디안에 병원을 짓기도 하는 등 날개 없는 천사로 활동하고 있다. 또 자신의 이름을 딴 '디디에 드로그바'(The Didier Drogba) 재단을 설립해 많은 아프리카 인들에게 기부를 하기도 했다.