Didier Drogba was not in the announced lineup for Montreal’s enormous Major League Soccer meeting against rival Toronto, bringing up questions as to why he’s not ready to go.
The official word from the club is that Drogba misses out thanks to a “sore back,” announced by the team’s official Twitter account. But just because it’s “official” doesn’t make it true.
Didier Drogba absent cet après midi. Inconfort au dos.
— CF Montréal (@cfmontreal) October 16, 2016
Didier Drogba is not available this afternoon. Stiff back.#IMFC #MTLvTOR
However, multiple reports from local media have suggested that Drogba misses out thanks to a “conflict within the organization,” first suggested by Nicolas Martineau of TVA Sports. Martineau reported on Saturday that Drogba had been struggling with injuries leading to his recent ineffectiveness, but then earlier Sunday reported via Twitter the controversial news.
Pour ajouter à l'info de @PFrioletRDS, une source me dit qu'il y a conflit entre l'organisation et Drogba. #IMFC
— Nicolas A Martineau (@nik_martineau) October 16, 2016
Patrick Friolet of RDS supported that claim, saying that Drogba is not injured, and that he worked very hard this week to get himself fully fit to play.
Soit dit en passant, Drogba n'est pas blessé. Il a travaillé très fort cette semaine pour être prêt aujourd'hui #IMFC #RDS
— Patrick Friolet (@PFrioletRDS) October 16, 2016
With Montreal fighting for a playoff spot in the East, looking to fight off DC United with just two matches remaining in regular season play, the loss of Drogba is heavy either way, but if it were because of an internal conflict, that could foreshadow bad news for the future as well.
