MOGAMAD ALLIE: What a season it’s been for Senegal star Sadio Mane — and not just on the field

The year 2022 has been a spectacularly successful one for Sadio Mane.

OK, he didn’t quite make it to become only the second African to win the Ballon d’Or after George Weah was voted the world’s best footballer in 1995, but he finished a close second to Karim Benzema, a richly deserving winner of the 2022 award.

In what was a memorable season for Senegal’s record goal-scorer, he netted the winning penalty in the post-match shootout against Egypt in February to help the Lions of Teranga clinch their first Africa Cup of Nations title. In July he was crowned African Footballer of the Year for a second time to join an elite group of 10 of the continent’s greats who have won the award multiple times. He also played a major role in his country qualifying for a second consecutive World Cup appearance, as well as helping his former club Liverpool win the FA and Carabao Cups. 

Amid spurious claims from some on social media that Mane was denied the Ballon d’Or because he is African, it’s hard to argue with any conviction against Benzema winning the award following his stellar season with Real Madrid.  

The 34-year-old striker’s 44 goals played a major role in Los Merengues marching to a 14th Champions League title as well as claiming the La Liga crown for a record-extending 35th time. 

In doing so Benzema also became the first Frenchman to win the coveted award since Zinedine Zidane, who incidentally presented his compatriot with the prize, claimed the accolade in 1998.

It’s an insult to suggest, as some have,  that Mane was honoured with the inaugural Socrates Prize as a deflection for not winning the Ballon d’Or.

The new award that was introduced by France Football magazine, organisers of the Ballon d’Or awards that was started in 1956, honours the tremendous humanitarian work done by Mane in uplifting the people in his modest home village of Bambali in the east of Senegal.

“The Socrates Prize will identify the best social initiative by committed champions,” France Football said a statement when announcing the new award in September. “Those initiatives will include those promoting social integration, protection of the environment or aid to groups who are disadvantaged, threatened or victims of conflict.”

The publication chose the former Brazil midfield maestro Socrates, who died in 2011 aged 57, because of his commitment to the Corinthian Democracy campaign, a movement that he helped organise at his Sao Paulo-based club Corinthians when  Brazil was under a US-installed military dictatorship. 

In what was essentially an ideological initiative, Socrates’s campaign to democratise the previously authoritarian running of the club was recognised in Brazil as one of the most important challenges to the military dictatorship that started in 1964 and was eventually overthrown in 1985.

While he no doubt would have preferred winning the Ballon d’Or, being honoured with the Socrates Prize is a richly deserved reward for Mane’s philanthropic endeavours in his home country, and particularly his home village. 

As someone who had to run away from his home at the age of 15 to enrol at an academy in Dakar, some 400km to the west, to pursue his dream of becoming a professional footballer, the 30-year-old attacking player knows all about the struggles of life and the hardships of poverty. It’s heart-warming to note that through his magnanimous actions he has clearly not forgotten his roots. No wonder he has been nicknamed “the man with the golden heart”.

Firstly, the Senegal international built a £455,000 (R9.3m) public hospital, which includes a maternity care unit. His father died from a stomach illness when Mane was aged only seven, and the lack of health services in his village forced his mother to give birth to his sister at home because there was no hospital in Bambali. These events made the construction of the facility a huge priority for him.

He also donated £250,000 (over R5m) for a free public secondary school and provided laptops and $400 (R7,000) each to the best-performing students of Bambali High School in an effort to provide opportunities for young people in the village.

Mane has also built a petrol station and is currently helping to construct a post office. He also gives €70 (R1,200) monthly to each family in the village and provides them with 4G internet connection. These measures all help to improve the connectivity to other areas and reduce the isolation and inequalities that rural villages in Senegal have to endure.

With all these initiatives, funded from his own pocket, Mane has helped transform the village, which has an estimated population of 2,000, to a stage where Bambali is now on the verge of becoming a town.

Not only is he a great footballer, Sadio Mane is also a wonderful human being with a heart of gold. He richly deserves all the success coming his way. Hopefully, there’s more to come this year as Senegal prepares to fly the African flag at next month’s World Cup in Qatar.