Sadio Mané is a professional footballer in Liverpool. Born in Bambali, Sédhiou, Senegal, the 29-year-old represented Senegal in the Olympics and the 2018 FIFA World Cup before he signed with Premier League side Liverpool for a £34 million (47.2 million USD) contract. He’s regarded as one of the current best footballers in the world and has played for France as well as for Senegal and England.
Bambali, his hometown, is a small village far away from the urban centers of Senegal. It has never had a hospital. In fact, the entire Department of Sédhiou, with a population of just over 150,000 people, has only one hospital.
Mané means to change this. The football star met in early June with Senegalese President Macky Sall to discuss the proposed hospital, which would include wards for maternity and dental care, as well as a straightforward medical clinic. Mané has announced he is donating £500,000 ($693,000 USD) toward this effort.
“The Liverpool striker has presented the Head of State with an ambitious plan to build a hospital in Bambali and is counting on state support for medical personnel,” tweeted the official account for the presidency on June 10. (Translated from French)
Mané also tweeted his enthusiasm, again in French. “Very honored by the audience that the Head of State, His Excellency @Macky_Sall granted me. A good time to discuss football but also our social projects.”
The hospital is not Mané’s first social project for Bambali. In 2019 he donated £250,000 (~$350,000 USD) to the village to build a school. In 2018, when he played in the FIFA World Cup, he donated 300 team jerseys so all the youth of his village could wear his colors.
In 2020, New African Magazine cited Sadio Mané as one of Africa’s 100 most influential people in the 21st century.
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