Senegalese-born Sadio Manè has been awarded the Socrates Award at the Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris, France. The Senegalese footballer is the first to win the award.
The award is given to a player to recognise their humanitarian works and achievements.
He’s one of the greatest players to come from Senegal, and he’s given his country not only trophies – scoring the winning penalty in the final of the 2022 African Cup of Nations – but a huge amount of donations for important projects.
He donated £500,000 for a hospital to be built in his home village of Bambali. The footballer inaugurated the hospital, including a maternity care department, in June 2021.
At the start of the pandemic in March 2020, he gave £41,000 to the national committee fighting Covid in Senegal.
He donated £250,000 for a new secondary school in his hometown of Bambali, Senegal.
