I was watching Portugal play the Ivory Coast during the first round of the 2010 World Cup when the sportscaster mentioned how Didier Drogba, who is the star player both for the Ivory Coast national team and a Chelsea player, just happened to save his country from a civil war. His words  may serve as an example of the most effective celebrity use of fame to reach peace.

The Ivory Coast had been embroiled in a Civil War for five years in 2005 when Drogba “grabbed the microphone”  after the Ivory Coast qualified for the 2006 World Cup and begged both factions on each side of the civil war to lay down their arms. Amazingly enough, both sides reached a cease-fire agreement soon after.

Drogba has not forgotten his Ivory Coast roots although he is a top player in the English Premiere League. He maintains his belief that his home nation of the Ivory Coast remains an important nation in Africa. After the Ivory Coast earned their berth in the 2006 World Cup, Drogba became somewhat of a deity in the country; according to a Vanity Fair article, youths in the country started emulating his appearance and he even had a beer named after him and a song written on his behalf after his team’s joyous victory. 

Drogba, himself, is loathe to take all of the credit for ending the Civil War in the Ivory Coast; rather, he contends that the power of sports and soccer in particular united the Ivory Coast together in victory and that he and his Ivory Coast teammates were just doing their job on the field.  As anyone who has been in a city or country with a winning team knows, sports definitely have the power to bring people together, but this is the only instance I know of where the power of sports actually brought peace to an entire nation.

For those interested in following Drogba and his Ivory Coast teammates in the 2010 World Cup, watch for the team in their upcoming matches against Brazil and North Korea. In their first match against Portugal, the Ivory Coast met with a 0-0 result against Portugal after Drogba entered the game in the second half with a broken arm.