Football: Drogba to return as salary row rumbles

Shenhua players were said to have protested over pay dispute, turning up late for practice at club’s training ground.

SHANGHAI: Former Chelsea star Didier Drogba was set to return from international duty and into a row at his Shanghai Shenhua squad that has seen teammates reportedly refuse to practise over unpaid wages. Shenhua players were said to have protested over the pay dispute, turning up late for practice at the club’s training ground and taking a leisurely stroll around a running track. However, the team will play its next game tomorrow as scheduled, club and league officials confirmed yesterday. Training had returned to normal after the one-day protest, a club official told AFP, declining further comment. Drogba returns after scoring twice in Ivory Coast’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Senegal on Saturday that had to be abandoned in the second-half because of rioting fans.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 19^th, 2012.