Ivory Coast’s football legend Didier Drogba has denied claims of converting to Islam after he was pictured praying with a Muslim cleric.

The cleric published the picture and reportedly announced that the former Chelsea striker had become a Muslim.

Drogba tweeted, debunking the rumors

But in a tweet on Monday evening, Drogba clarified that he was “just paying respect to my Muslim brothers” while visiting his village.

He described it as “a moment of togetherness”.

The cleric Mohamed Salah later deleted the post and said Drogba had not embraced Islam, but he will still pray for his conversion. Drogba played more than 100 times for Ivory Coast, including at the 2006 and 2010 World Cups. He became the country’s all-time top scorer before retiring in 2018.