Posts tagged ‘Didier Drogba’

04/03/2013

* David Beckham takes up China football ambassador role

BBC: “David Beckham has become a global ambassador for Chinese football to help the image of the country’s game.

David Beckham

The Chinese Super League has recently been hit by the exit of ex-Chelsea striker Didier Drogba, while also suffering from a match-fixing scandal.

Beckham, 37, will combine the role with playing for Paris St-Germain.

“I am honoured to have been asked to play such an important role at this special time in Chinese football history,” he said in a statement.

His role will involve attending league matches in China and visiting clubs to help promote the game to children.

“I’m excited by the prospect of promoting the world’s greatest game to Chinese sports fans as I’ve seen first hand the growing interest in football there,” added Beckham.

“This is a wonderful sport that inspires people across the world and brings families together, so I’m relishing the opportunity of introducing more fans to the game.”

Drogba, 34, joined Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua in June 2012 on a two-and-half-year deal after helping Chelsea to win last season’s Champions League.

But the Ivory Coast international left the Chinese club in January 2013 for Turkish side Galatasaray, in a controversial loan move.

Drogba’s former Chelsea team-mate and ex-France striker Nicolas Anelka also left Shanghai in a short-term loan move to Italian side Juventus.

The departures have been a blow to the Chinese game ahead of the 2013 Chinese Super League season starting on 8 March.

There have also been problems with corruption, which resulted in the country’s former top referee being jailed and 58 officials being banned for match-fixing by Fifa and the Chinese Football Association.”

via BBC Sport – David Beckham takes up China football ambassador role.

14/07/2012

* China football fans greet Didier Drogba at Shanghai

BBC: “Ivory Coast football star Didier Drogba has arrived to a hero’s welcome in China, to take up a contract to play for Shanghai Shenhua.

Hundreds of fans of the struggling Chinese Super League team greeted the 34-year-old former Chelsea star at Shanghai’s Pudong airport.

Drogba’s reported $300,000 (£193,000) a week salary makes him one of the world’s highest paid footballers.

Drogba is among many foreign stars who have made recent moves to China.

He joins former Chelsea colleague Nicolas Anelka at Shanghai Shenhua.

Soon after his arrival, Drogba insisted he had not come for the money.

He said: “It would have been easier for me to stay in Europe, but I chose China. Money is not the most important [thing]. I am here for a whole new experience.””

via BBC News – China football fans greet Didier Drogba at Shanghai.

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