Even though soccer player Sadio Mane is among the wealthiest football players in the world, he hasn’t forgotten the impoverished Senegalese hamlet where he was raised.
According to MailOnline, the former forward for Liverpool has recently contributed an estimated £1 million for the construction of new Bambali hospitals and schools.
His most recent present to the remote village in the nation of West Africa is a brand-new miniature soccer stadium with seats for spectators and artificial grass.Mane, 31, and his 19-year-old Senegalese girlfriend Aisha Tamba tied the knot over the weekend, and last week’s event marked the official unveiling of the pitch.
The stadium is the most recent initiative Mane, who reputedly makes approximately £34 million a year with Saudi Arabian team Al-Nassr, funded in the town. It replaces the former football field in Bambali, which used to become a mud wallow in wet weather.
In order to construct a school in Bambali in 2019, Mane, who is getting ready to captain Senegal in the Africa Cup of Nations competition that begins this weekend, donated £250,000.
Later on, he donated £500,000 to help build a hospital that would serve the town and 34 neighboring communities.
He has also provided funding for the construction of a gas station, a post office, and 4G mobile internet service for his neighborhood. Furthermore, he has given Bambali High School free laptops and $400 grants for each of their top-performing pupils.
Mane is also reported to have given each family in his former neighborhood, which has 2,000 residents, a monthly stipend of 70 euros, which is the same as the minimum salary in Senegal.
After playing in a “gala” match on the old earth surface where he used to play as a child, in June 2022, alongside former Premier League stars Papiss Cisse and El-Hadji Diouf, Mane made the decision to invest in a new football stadium.
He shared a photo and a video of himself on the sodden pitch on his more than 16 million-follower Instagram feed.
“Heading back to the source with a gala game at Bambaly pitch where it all started!!!” was the caption that went with the pictures. Many thanks for it. to my siblings.
He promised to improve the surface at the event, and he followed through on his promise by providing funding for the construction of the brand-new small stadium, known as Stade de Bambali.
At a ceremony marking the facility’s opening with a ribbon cut in Senegal’s national colors, Mane expressed his satisfaction at having provided it.
He declared: “I stand before you on this FIFA-standard football field, which holds great personal significance for me, with a heart full of joy and immense pride.”
This is more than just a token of my affection for my village. It is a representation of our strength, solidarity, and love of football above all else.
On social media, the West African football player’s admirers hailed his most recent present and called him a “great hero.”
Congrats, bro, wrote one supporter. No location compares to home. One more person said, “I’m so proud of this man.” May God continue to bless you.
Mane, who was born in Bambali to Guinean parents, remembers playing football with a grapefruit rather than a ball in the past.
His tale of rags to riches was featured in the 2020 documentary Made in Senegal. In it, he described how his father, a local imam, passed away when he was just seven years old and since Bambali lacked a hospital, forcing him to be sent to a neighboring community for treatment.
Mane attributed much of his charity in the Sédhiou province of Senegal, where the World Bank estimates that over 70% of families live in poverty, to the circumstances surrounding his father’s death.
“I remember my sister was also born at home because there is no hospital in our village,” he continued in the movie. For all of them, it was a very, very sad scenario. I wished to construct one to instill hope in others.
The documentary, which can be seen for free on Rakuten TV, shows Mane being accosted by ecstatic residents when visiting Bambali.