The Senegalese who went from Liverpool to Bayern Munich is hailed for the help he brings to his region, Casamance, and to his native village.
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It is an unprecedented prize that goes to Sadio Mané, who dreamed of becoming the first African since George Weah to win the Ballon d’Or. The Senegalese striker from Bayern Munich received the Sócrates prize, awarded Monday, October 17 as part of the 2022 Golden Ball. A distinction which comes to salute the commitment of Sadio Mané outside the field. For years, the striker born in Bambali, in Casamance, has contributed to the development of his region.
After a sumptuous 2021-2022 season with Liverpool – with whom he reached the Champions League final against Karim Benzema’s Real Madrid – and before joining Bayern Munich, Sadio Mané returned to the country, in this Casamance that he has left at 15 to join a training center in Dakar. The opportunity for him to savor the path traveled since his apprenticeship in Senegal, then with FC Metz, Salzburg, Southampton, Liverpool and Bayern. The opportunity also to express his pride in being able to help his village. “Let’s make sure that each of us can bring his stone to the building to build a radiant and prosperous Senegal, he confided this summer to The Team. This is what motivates my actions for Bambali, my village, which saw me born and grow.”
Sadio Mané thus participated in the financing of a new hospital to the tune of 350 million CFA francs (more than 530,000 euros), but also of a school, a post office and a service station. The Senegalese number 10 goes further: it supports the studies of the best students of the college-high school of Bambali to the tune of 250,000 CFA francs (nearly 400 euros).
This Sócrates prize, which rewards for the first time a footballer involved in societal and charitable projects, is also an opportunity to salute the memory of the person who gave him his name, the Brazilian international Sócrates, nicknamed “the doctor”. The name of this genius footballer who died in 2011 was chosen by France Soccer because of its commitment to the famous and romantic “Corinthian Democracy”: in the midst of the military dictatorship in Brazil in the 1980s, the Corinthians team made the daring choice to submit all the club’s decisions to a vote. And the players played their matches with the word “democracy” on their shirts: a challenge to the military which did not prevent the club from winning the Sao Paulo Championship twice.