Headline, December03, 2013

''' THE FOOTBALL HEROES AND 

SAVIOURS OF : IVORY COAST '''

One September morning in 2002, a group of 500 soldiers from the north of the country rebelled against the leadership of the president, Laurent Gbagbo, and tried to capture Abidjan.

It was the culmination of nearly a decade of political unrest, sparked by the death of the country's first president, Felix Houphouet-Boigny, in 1993. Politicians, including Ghagbo, had used ethnicity to divide the country.

The phrase ''Ivoirite'', meaning  ''Ivorianness'' . was introduced to separate  ''pure'' and  ''mixed'' Ivorians. Many of those now viewed as ''mixed'' lived in the north. as if the ethnic division wasn't enough to create sparks there was a religious element too, with the south being dominated by the Christians and the north by Muslims.

The 2002 coup attempt failed, but the soldiers managed to take control Bouake, where they had the support of most of the population. Within a month a ceasefire had been agreed and French troops were sent to monitor the line that now existed between north and south. Ivory Coast was split in........... Two.

Wars tend to end at conferences. Politicians and generals gather to sign documents. Former rebel leaders and government minister shake hands and smile. A senior member of the International community  -a former president or UN secretary general, perhaps  -looks on benevolently.

The civil war in Ivory Coast was supposed to end at a peace conference. There were several agreements, but none stuck. The most recent one signed one, signed in 2007 in Ouagadougou, the capital of neighbouring Burkina Faso, looked like it might work. But there was still a level of mistrust between the government and the former rebels.

More importantly, the country's population,  frustrated at the previous false dawns, was sceptical. It would take something far bigger than a peace conference to convince Ivorians that the war had ended.              It would take a Football Match.

To many English Football fans, Didier Drogba's talents are often overshadowed by his surly temperament and a tendency to collapse on the turf in apparent agony at the slightest hint of a challenge. In Drogba's home-country the Chelsea striker can do no wrong.

Throughout the war he captained the Ivory Coast National Team, leading a side made up of players from across the divide. Drogba, Salomon Kalou (Chelsea) and Emmanuel Eboue (Arsenal) are from the south, while the Toure brothers, Kolo (Manchester City), Yaya (Barcelona) and Kader Keita (Galatasaray) are all from the north.

On the pitch, though they are all Ivorians. In October 2005, they beat Sudan 3-1 in Khartoum to seal qualifications to the World Cup for the first time in their history.

''Drogba was determined to use the football team's success to further the peace process. Before every match the team prayed for peace, and at every opportunity Drogba appealed for an end to the war''.

In 2007, a few weeks after the Ouagadougou peace deal, Drogba was named African player of the year. Still, clutching the trophy, he flew to Bouake, Tens of thousands of fans came out to greet him. 

The award, Drogba told the crowd, was not just for him but for the whole of the country. To show he meant it he said he wanted  ''Les Elephants''  to play their next match, an African Nations qualifier against Madagascar, in Bouake.

''It will be a memorable day,'' he said.''It will be the victory for Ivory Coast football, the victory of the Ivory Coast people and, quite simply, there will be peace.''

The football brought the two sides together. Thousands of people came up from Abidjan for the game. For most of them it was the first time they had been to Bouake since the start of the war. Families were reunited. Long lost friends shared tears of joy, together.

''There was a carnival atmosphere,'' said Albert Atakou, the ministry of sport's local representative in Bouake. ''People had been scared of coming here. But once they were here, it was like nothing had happened''.

Politics was forgotten. Everybody was hugging everybody. Nobody cared a damn who they were or where they were from. It was a turning point, a moment when the war finally seemed to be over. It was beyond the peace deal. The stadium was renamed:

''Le Stade de la Paix''. : The Peace Stadium

With respectful and delightful dedication to the people of Ivory Coast, to ''Les Elephants'', the national football team, the Students, Professors and Teachers. See Y all on the World Students Society Computers-Internet-Wireless:

''' WORLD  REUNITED '''

Good Night & God Bless!

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless