Each member of the Ivorian national soccer team, the Elephants, runners-up in the just-ended 25th Africa Nations Cup in Egypt, is to get a national diplomatic passport, according to official sources here.
The sources said President Laurent Gbagbo announced the award to the players and the team coach during a dinner he held in honour of the World Cup-bound Elephants Saturday.
The team arrived here on Saturday after losing the Nations Cup final game 2-4 on penalties to hosts Egypt in Cairo Friday.
Gbagbo also said there would be other rewards to the players, who had already been awarded the medal of the Ivorian Knight of the National Order, in addition to a villa each, worth 30 million CFA francs, after qualifying the conflict divided country for the World Cup finals in Germany, kicking off in June. (540 CFA francs=1USD).