Good for Sadio Mané

I'm not much of a soccer fan. 

Sure, I know that everyone else in the world calls soccer football.

I know that teams in the UK's Premier League get relegated (demoted to a lesser league) if they don't perform.

I know that the American women's soccer team tends to be pretty good.

I'll keep a vague eye on the World Cup, and maybe even watch a bit of the final game. (I kinda sorta know that Argentina is the current champion.)

And I can name a few famous soccer players.  Cristiano Ronaldo. David Beckham. Lionel Messi. Megan Rapinoe. Pelé. (Only he's dead.)

But I'd never heard of Senegal's (and the German team Bayern Munich's) superstar Sadio Mané, even if he is one of the top footballers playing today and one of the greatest African soccer players of all time. 

I first saw his name when he came across my Twitter feed. 

Seems that Mané, who makes roughly 22M Euro each year, was spotted by fans carrying an out-of-date iPhone 11 with a cracked screen. His response?

"Why would I want ten Ferraris, 20 diamond watches, and two jet planes? I starved, I worked in the fields, played barefoot, and I didn't go to school.

Now I can help people. I prefer to build schools and give poor people food or clothing. I have built schools and a stadium, provide clothes, shoes, and food for people in extreme poverty. In addition, I give 70 euros per month to all people from a very poor Senegalese region in order to contribute to their family economy. I do not need to display luxury cars, luxury homes, trips, and even planes. I prefer that my people receive some of what life has given me."

He's also built a hospital in his hometown, donated big bucks to covid relief, and given laptops to hundreds of kids from his village.

Senegal is one of the poorest nations on earth - bottom 15% - and that's where Mané directs most of his philanthropy. Because of his generosity, he was the first person given the Socrates Award, which recognizes the humanitarian efforts of a bigtime footballer. 

It's not like Mané lives like a monk. He owns a few pricey cars, including a Mercedes and a Bentley. He has a couple of nice homes, and when one was broken into, the thieves made off with watches, car keys, and - yes - some iPhones. (Presumably with screens intact.)

It's not as if he's a saint. This spring, he was suspended for a game for punching out one of his teammates.

And it's not like he's the only philanthropic footballer. Rinaldo and Messi are both noted for their generosity. And pretty much any athlete you've heard of has some sort of charitable thing going. 

Given how much bigtime athletes make - and given that so many of them come from impoverished backgrounds - it's the least they can do. 

Still, Mané stands out for the relative modesty of his lifestyle, and his generosity.

There's no doubt that what he's doing is helping give a better life to the desperately poor folks in the village he managed to kick his way out of. 

Good for him.