Montreal leaves Didier Drogba at home for Canadian Championship game with Vancouver

The Montreal Impact's newest star player, Didier Drogba, won't play in the Amway Canadian Championship final against the Vancouver Whitecaps due to a toe issue, head coach Frank Klopas confirmed to reporters Friday.

Drogba, 37, made his debut for Montreal on Saturday but picked up a toe injury and has been ruled out for Wednesday's match.

Klopas explained that the decision came down to a few factors, including the artificial turf at Vancouver's BC Place stadium.

"It's just a weird situation," Klopas told reporters Tuesday. "All along he was to come, then yesterday before we left in the morning, we had him examined again by our team doctors and they felt that the best situation was not to bring him because of the travel. A little bit of the swelling that he had in his toe and not to make it worse.

"Plus, it's a turf thing. Maybe he could have played, but then it could have been a situation where the guy is out three weeks."

Drogba isn't the first player whose club hasn't risked him on artificial surfaces; during his time at the New York Red Bulls, former Arsenal man Thierry Henry did not once play at BC Place. LA Galaxy midfielder David Beckham, too, made just one appearance in Vancouver.

Klopas says this particular decision isn't simply a refusal to play Drogba on turf, reiterating that the club was "going to bring him."

"All along when he came, this was something that when we looked at the schedule ... We talked about this trip and it's a final and he said: 'Coach, I want to be with the team. I want to be there.' The plan was to be here, be available," Klopas said.

"I'm not saying he would have started, but coming in and playing a role like he did in the last game, then being in a position where he could start in Toronto. He wanted to be here."

Vancouver hosts the Impact for the second leg of the Canadian Championship final, after the first leg ended in a 2-2 draw in Montreal. Should Vancouver win, it would be the Whitecaps' first ever Voyageurs Cup victory.