Footballer Didier Drogba to sue UK newspaper over false claims on his charity

Footballer Didier Drogba said Thursday he would take legal action against Britain's Daily Mail newspaper after it published allegations that most of the money raised by his charity in Britain was not going to good causes

London: Footballer Didier Drogba said Thursday he would take legal action against Britain's Daily Mail newspaper after it published allegations that most of the money raised by his charity in Britain was not going to good causes.

Didier Drogba

The newspaper reported that less than one percent of over £1.7 million (2.1 million euros, $2.4 million) raised by Drogba's charity in the past five years had gone to help children in the former Chelsea star's homeland of Ivory Coast. It claimed that most of the donations to the Didier Drogba Foundation had been spent on glitzy events for celebrity supporters or was sitting untouched in bank accounts. Only £14,115 of the cash was reportedly spent on good causes, the paper said.

"Despite sending legal letters and 67 pages worth of documents advising the Daily Mail that their information was factually incorrect and libellous, they have decided to ignore the facts so I am issuing legal proceedings against them today," the footballer said in a statement.

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