{"id":34154,"date":"2026-05-10T13:12:48","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T11:12:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=34154"},"modified":"2026-05-10T13:12:48","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T11:12:48","slug":"tanzania-names-didier-drogba-as-ambassador-for-afcon-2027","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/tanzania-names-didier-drogba-as-ambassador-for-afcon-2027\/","title":{"rendered":"Tanzania names Didier Drogba as Ambassador for AFCON 2027"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>Tanzania\u2019s President Samia Suluhu Hassan has invited football legend Didier Drogba to serve as an Ambassador ahead of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The East African country is set to host the AFCON tournament for the first time alongside Kenya and Uganda next year.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Drogba is his nation\u2019s all-time leading scorer and among Africa\u2019s top international goal scorers.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Ivory Coast legend Didier Drogba could play a prominent role in Tanzania\u2019s build-up to AFCON 2027.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>An invitation from President Samia Suluhu Hassan was sent, requesting him to act as a global ambassador for the tournament.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The former striker met with President Samia in Dar es Salaam, where he described the invitation as an honour and signalled his willingness to support preparations for the continent\u2019s biggest football event.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>According to officials familiar with the discussions, Drogba has been asked to use his profile to promote both the tournament and Tanzania as a travel destination.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Government officials say his role could extend beyond marketing, with plans for him to share expertise in youth development and sports academies, working alongside Tanzania\u2019s Sports Ministry.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Drogba, a two-time African Footballer of the Year, also pointed to increased investment in sport as a positive step, saying it reflects the country\u2019s intent to grow the game.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Fans have largely welcomed the move, seeing his involvement as a boost to the tournament\u2019s visibility.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Tanzania is continuing preparations for AFCON 2027, including building new stadiums, upgrading existing facilities, and encouraging investment in accommodation ahead of the competition.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8211;SABC&#8211;<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":34155,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[78,20],"class_list":["post-34154","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Government officials say his role could extend beyond marketing.","published_date":"","news_description":"Government officials say his role could extend beyond marketing.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/34154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/34154\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34156,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/34154\/revisions\/34156"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=34154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}