Senegalese football star, Sadio Mane’s rise shines a light on his hometown

Record ID: 1119229

  • Title: Senegalese football star, Sadio Mane’s rise shines a light on his hometown
  • Date: 29th May 2018
  • Summary: BAMBALI, SENEGAL (RECENT - MAY 26, 2018) (REUTERS) SANDY FOOTBALL FIELD WHERE SADIO MANE USED TO TRAIN MANE'S COUSIN, SOUANE, (ON THE RIGHT) LOOKING AT THE FIELD (SOUNDBITE) (Mandingue) SADIO MANE'S COUSIN, SOUANE, SAYING: "Sadio would come here absolutely every day, escaping from school to come here and train, every single day... This is the reason why he didn't go very f
  • Embargoed: 12th June 2018 16:56
  • Keywords: Liverpool champions league soccer Senegal Bambali football Sadio Mane school development
  • Location: BAMBALI AND SEDHIOU, SENEGAL/ LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND/ KIEV, UKRAINE
  • City: BAMBALI AND SEDHIOU, SENEGAL/ LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND/ KIEV, UKRAINE
  • Country: Senegal
  • Topics: Soccer,Sport
  • Reuters ID: LVA0048HX9OBB
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Liverpool's and Senegal's international forward Sadio Mane left his native home of Bambali, southeast of Dakar years ago to follow his football dream, but the rising star is still present here in people's hearts and minds.
    The nominee for the African Footballer of the Year in 2017, scored the only goal against Real Madrid at the Champions League last Saturday. The team lost but in Senegal, and especially in Bambali, Mane is a winner.
    He is considered by many as the Senegal's Lions' main man and will be carrying the country's hopes for the World Cup.
    Mane he is also making Bambali a part of his success story by investing in its development.
    The 26-year-old left home when he was still a teenager but visits his home town often.
    His cousin, Mallang Souane remembers a young Sadio obsessed with football, training everyday on the sandy football field and convinced he would make it to the big leagues.
    "Sadio would come here absolutely every day, escaping from school to come here and train, every single day...This is the reason why he didn't go very far at school, because he was always here, training, no matter what time it was. And people would think: "but what is it with this boy? what does he have in his head? What is his problem? Why is he not going to school, spending all his time playing football?"', Mallang Souane recalls, looking at the field.
    Bambali, a village of about 2000 people is located 400 kilometers Southeast of Dakar, in Casamance, a region embedded between Gambia and Guinea-Bissau and isolated from the rest of the country.
    Residents describe it as long ignored by the authorities in Dakar.
    Here, Mane has financed the rebuilding of the mosque and now the expansion of Bambali commune's high school.
    The project, worth 270,000 US dollars (152 million CFA), includes 10 new class rooms, whose construction has already started and which should replace the temporary shelters, a multi-sports field, a football field, a library, and a fence all around.
    The school's headmaster, Ousmane Mane, (not related to Sadio Mane) says this project is significant in a region where, according to official figures, 50% of the population is under 15.
    The headmaster says there are around 500 pupils attending the school today.
    "I have knocked on every door: that of the regional education authority, that of the district council, that of the governance... I went everywhere. I went everywhere," said Ousmane Mane.
    "It is a praiseworthy gesture. A praiseworthy gesture, and we don't have the exact words to say how much we appreciate it, I can't deny that. I remember very well how hard the conditions were when I started working here, and seeing someone coming here to tell me that a whole high school is going to be built, equipped, and fenced, only to see indeed the building start, I really have no words to tell you the joy I am feeling," he added.
    Community workers say there is a lot more to be done.
    National statistics published in 2011 show that more than 60 percent of the population of Sedhiou, the region where Bambali sits, lives in poverty and many youths leave to find jobs in Dakar or even much further afield.
    In the regional capital of Sedhiou city, Mamadou Lamine Sadio, co-ordinator of a NGO fighting for children's rights is hoping Sadio Mane's success and celebrity will put Casamance in the spot light and bolster development.
    "It seems he has committed to building a high school, but he shouldn't stop there. The is a need for formation centres, for football fields so that more talents, more Sadio Mane can emerge, for associative centres, or a socio-cultural centre," said Mamadou Lamine Sadio, the co-ordinator of an NGO fighting for children's rights in Sedhiou city, the regional capital of Bambali.
    According to Mane's family, there are other projects cooking, among them a hospital.
    "We are and I am very proud of Sadio, because everything that is happening today to Sadio is a result of God's will, and we keep on praying so God will even further assist Sadio," said his aunt, Fanta Toure.
    Mane despatched 300 club jerseys to supporters in Bambali before Saturday's Champions League final against Real Madrid.
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