Football: Didier Drogba threatens legal action over 'false and defamatory' newspaper stories about his charity

A charity run by former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba is under investigation by the Charity Commission.

The Daily Mail has claimed that just £14,115 out of £1.7m donated to the Didier Drogba Foundation had gone to help causes in Africa and the 38-year-old is now threatening legal action against the “false and defamatory” story.

In a statement, Drogba added: ‘There is no fraud, no corruption, no mismanagement and no lies” and accused the Mail of “jeopardising the lives of many thousands of African children”.

The Didier Drogba Foundation was launched in the UK in 2009 when the former Ivory Coast captain was playing for Chelsea. The Mail claimed £439,321 was spent putting on lavish fundraising parties attended by celebrities, while more than £1m languished in bank accounts.

But the foundation told the Mail it had a separate organisation with the same name set up in the Ivory Coast which had funded several charitable projects in Africa since 2007.

Drogba, who now plays for Montreal in the MLS, has now listed the accomplishments of his foundation, including building a mobile clinic, investing in orphanages and funding the purchase of school bags, books and a dialysis machine.

The Charity Commission said it had opened a case to assess “concerns about the administration of the charity and the oversight provided by trustees, all of whom appear to live abroad, as well as allegations that the charity has provided misleading information to donors and the public.

“Further, the charity has raised and accumulated significant sums of money that have not yet been spent and further information is required over the plans to spend those funds. All these issues merit further investigation by the Commission.”