Drogba gets green light to play in cast

By Mike Collett JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Ivory coast striker Didier Drogba will be allowed to wear a protective cast on his fractured right arm if he plays against Portugal in their opening Group G match at Port Elizabeth on Tuesday (1400GMT). "The referee, Jorge Larrionda from Uruguay has okayed the cast which he will use to play," FIFA spokesman Nicolas Maingot told a news briefing on Tuesday. "The cast has also been seen by the Portuguese delegation at yesterday's match coordination meeting." Drogba, who injured his forearm in a World Cup warm-up against Japan on June 4, has been told by coach Sven-Goran Eriksson to decide whether he feels fit enough to play. He would not be the first player to appear in the World Cup wearing a protective cast. Rene van der Kerkhof wore one in the 1978 World Cup final when his Netherlands side lost to Argentina and England striker Gary Lineker wore a small cast on his left wrist at the 1986 finals in Mexico when he scored a hat-trick against Poland. (Editing by Ken Ferris)