Sadio Mane’s wins the first Socrates award at the Ballon d’Or 2022 ceremony for his humanitarian efforts. This award goes to the best social initiative in the game and recognises his work in building social infrastructure in Senegal.
The prize is named after Brazil football icon Socrates – who co-founded the Corinthians Democracy movement, in opposition to the ruling military government in 1980s Brazil.
Despite his fame and wealth, Mane clearly hasn’t forgotten his roots.
The 29-year-old is well aware of the poverty-stricken conditions in his home village of Bambaly and paid for a hospital to be built there.
Mane then donated £250,000 to fund a new secondary school and was spotted visiting the construction site to check on its progress.
During the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, he personally paid for 50 Senegalese fans to fly to Cameroon and watch their semi-final victory.
“I think I told you about the generous gesture that Sadio Mane made in Bafoussam in favour of a family,” said a guest on the set of a Cameroonian channel Equinoxet.
“The latter was in distress because a motorcycle had hit their child who had broken bones and injuries all over his body; he was close to death and his parents could not afford to pay for treatment.
“And Sadio, who was in this hospital, finds this grieving family and asks them what is going on. We explain the situation to him and he gave them 400,000 FCFA which relieved this family.”
But this isn’t the first time that he’s helped others in dire need of medical assistance. Amid the outbreak of coronavirus, Mane donated £41,000 to health authorities in Senegal.
Also after scoring the opener in Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Leicester in 2018, Mane would be forgiven for putting his feet up and having a rest.
As a devoted Muslim, he was instead seen helping to clean the toilets at his local mosque in Liverpool just a few hours after the final whistle.
