By The Olympic fever is slowly sweeping through France with the Paris Summer Games set to be held from July 26 to August 11. The Paralympic Games will be held from August 28 to September 8. This Wednesday, the Olympic torch touched ground in the Mediterranean port city of Marseille after a 12-day journey from Greece aboard the Belem, a 19th-century sailing ship. On Thursday, the Olympic Torch relay will start in La Cité Phocéenne with a handful of former and current Olympique de Marseille expected to take part, including Didier Drogba.
According to BFMTV, Drogba will carry the Olympic torch tomorrow evening to the 67.000-seater Stade Vélodrome as the day’s final torchbearer. The Ivory Coast international spent only one season with Les Phocéens, which was enough to prove himself a Marseille legend. Drogba scored 32 goals in 55 competitive games, leading the José Anigo-led team to the UEFA Cup final, which Marseille lost to Rafael Benitez’s Valencia. Drogba joined Chelsea FC the following summer in a €35m move.
On Thursday in Marseille, the torchbearers will include 1992 Ballon d’Or Jean-Pierre Papin, 1993 Champions League winners with Marseille Basile Boli and Eric Di Meco and OM captain Valentin Rongier. Tomorrow night, OM fans will also root for their team in Bergamo with Jean-Louis Gasset’s team taking on Atalanta BC with a spot in the Europa League final up for grabs. The first leg ended in a 1-1 draw.
GFFN | Bastien Cheval
