Don Garber: Drogba, Montreal, Chelsea situation may be tampering
Didier Drogba is in talks with Chelsea about potentially retiring from the Montreal Impact and joining the Blues' coaching staff with a year left on his contract in MLS, and the league has a watchful eye over the proceedings. MLS commissioner Don Garber told SI.com that depending on who has initiated these talks, it could qualify as tampering.
Speaking on the Planet Fútbol Podcast, MLS commissioner Don Garber addressed the ongoing situation:
"The real question is in the word "pursue," Garber said. "We don't know whether or not–nobody knows that–Chelsea is pursuing him versus Didier deciding that he might retire and pursue a coaching career. Right now he's under contract. He just tweeted out the other day he hasn't decided to retire. Our view is if he's under contract and somebody was to pursue him, that would be tampering, but we're not at that point yet. We'll have to see how this plays out."
[Drogba comments begin at 25:10]
L'Equipe reported last week that Drogba was indeed retiring to join Guus Hiddink's staff, only for Drogba to refute the report via Twitter, as Garber alluded. MLS is still hoping that Drogba plays through his contract with the Impact for obvious reasons. The Ivorian forward scored 11 goals in 11 league games after joining Montreal in July, and he added another goal in the postseason. When asked on an earlier Planet Fútbol Podcast whether 30 goals was attainable this season with Montreal, Drogba answered, jestingly, "That is the challenge. Let's do it!"
