A seven-month investigation by the Charities Commission has concluded that no funds have been misapplied by Didier Drogba’s foundation and that there was no evidence of fraud or corruption on behalf of the charity.
The investigation into the former Chelsea striker’s charity was sparked in April after the Daily Mail presented the Charities Commission with a dossier of ‘evidence’ which claimed to prove that less than one per cent of the money raised by the foundation in the UK went to good causes.
‘We have been able to satisfy our most serious concerns in relation to the charity by confirming that finds have not been misapplied and that all funds raised in the English charity’s name have been held by the English charity,’ the report from the Charities Commission reads. ‘We are also able to confirm that we found no evidence of fraud or corruption on behalf of the charity.’
Drogba has always maintained that the Daily Mail’s claims were false, and has confirmed in a statement that he has told his legal representatives to seek a full apology from the newspaper in light of the findings of the report. He will also seek damages from the paper, which will be paid to his foundation.
‘The Charities Commission has today confirmed after a seven month investigation, that no funds have been misapplied by my Foundation, and that there has been no financial wrongdoing, no fraud and no corruption,’ Drogba says in his statement. ‘I am pleased that this supports what we always said from the start which is that the claims made by the Daily Mail back in April were entirely false. I have instructed my lawyers to seek a full apology and damages to be paid to my Foundation from the Daily Mail.”
The Didier Drogba Foundation was established in 2007 and aims to help to fund and improve medical and educational facilities in the footballer’s homeland of the Ivory Coast.
