Sports

Didier Drogba: Former Chelsea star and Ivorian legend awarded UAE golden visa

Thursday, November 19, 2020 at 3:42 PM by Babajide Orevba

- Didier Drogba has been a frequent visitor in the Dubai city of the UAE

- The Ivorian legend has now been awarded the country’s golden visa

- Drogba was also presented with the prestigious award of the country’s ‘First Line of Defence’

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The UAE general directorate of residency and foreign affairs in Dubai on Wednesday, November 20, announced that Ivorian legend Didier Drogba has been awarded the country’s golden visa.

It was confirmed on the Instagram handle of the directorate that the former Chelsea striker has been awarded the prestige, which was also recently presented to Brazilian legend Bebeto.

The Dubai Sports Council also issued Drogba the ‘Medal of First Line Defence’ as he is officially recognised for the council’s ‘Be Fit, Be Safe’ campaign.

The former Chelsea forward showed his willingness to collaborate with the council as he met the secretary-general of the Dubai sports council Saeed Hareb as well as his assistant Nasser Aman Al Rahma.

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Drogba is said to be open to investment opportunities in Dubai, according to a statement. The statement reads in part:

“The development here has also been amazing and I want to congratulate Dubai’s leadership for all their efforts to make sure people live here happy and in a safe place.”

Didier Drogba: Former Chelsea star and Ivorian legend awarded UAE golden visa — Didier Drogba is seeking huge investment opportunities in the UAE. Photo: Francois Nel
Source: Getty Images

Only recently, Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum offered five-time Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo the opportunity to become a citizen of the United Arab Emirates when he gave the Portuguese star a 10-year visa.

The Gold Card residency visa is a scheme recently launched by the United Arab Emirates' government with the target to woo more investors, businessmen, students to their country.

Ronaldo is a regular visitor to the United Arab Emirates which made him a qualified candidate for this glorious award.

Meanwhile Legit.ng earlier reported that Liberian legend, George Uppong Weah, has emerged Africa’s greatest footballer of all-time in the latest compilation titled The Best African Footballers of All Time by UK outlet SunSport.