Ballon d’Or 2022: Sadio Mane wins Socrates award for charity work

Sadio Mane has been awarded France Football’s inaugural Socrates Award for his charitable work in Senegal.

The 30-year-old Mane is used to making headlines on the field, but it’s his ongoing efforts away from it that are having the biggest impact. In recent years, the Bayern Munich forward helped his hometown of Bambali build a public hospital, fund local schools and families, and donate to the Senegalese National Committee to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Socrates Prize, which was added to the 2022 Ballon d’Or ceremony, “identifies the best social initiative by committed champions,” according to a statement from France Football magazine. The honor bears the name of the late Brazilian footballer Socrates, who helped found the Corinthians Democracy movement to challenge the country’s then-dominant military regime in the 1980s.

Mane, the current African Footballer of the Year, was also a Ballon d’Or nominee. He assisted Senegal in winning their first Africa Cup of Nations title while scoring 23 goals in his final season as a Liverpool player. Since then, he has produced nine goals and an assist in 16 competitive games for Bayern.

“I’m really happy to be a guest tonight,” Mane said. “Sometimes I’m a bit shy, but I’m really happy to do what I can do for my people to make things better.”