Didier Drogba offers hospital as COVID-19 center

DAKAR, Senegal

Former football star Didier Drogba has offered his hospital in his native Ivory Coast as a treatment center for novel coronavirus patients, local press reported over the weekend.

The hospital, located in the city of Abidjan, is named after Ivory Coast footballer Laurent Pokou, who died in 2016.

The head of Abidjan's regional council, Vincent Toh Bi Irie, thanked Drogba for the patriotic move and said the hospital will be very useful in the fight against the virus once it is functional.

The government recently announced that 13 hospitals in Abidjan and 45 in the country will be used as COVID-19 centers.

Since March 11, when the first coronavirus case was reported in the country, 574 people have been diagnosed with the illness, 85 of which have recovered while five have died.

In his career, Drogba played for Galatasaray, Le Mans, Guingamp, Olympique Marseilles, Chelsea, Shanghai Shenhua and Montreal Impact.

He retired in November 2018 while playing for the U.S. team Phoenix Rising.

*Writing by Firdevs Bulut