Friday , 22 August 2025
Home International Sports Football African footballing legend Salif Keita passes away at 76
FootballInternational Sports

African footballing legend Salif Keita passes away at 76

Bamako: The Malian footballer Salif Keita, who was awarded the first African Footballer of the Year title in 1970 and is considered one of the continent’s sporting icons, passed away in Bamako on Saturday at the age of 76, as announced by the country’s football federation.

Keita had a distinguished career in France, playing for St Etienne and Olympique de Marseille, as well as for Valencia in Spain and Sporting Lisbon, before concluding his career in the North American Soccer League.

He made his debut for Mali at the age of 16 and later helped the team reach the final of the 1972 Africa Cup of Nations. From 2005 to 2009, Keita served as the president of the Mali Football Federation.

In the meantime, Dr Patrice Motsepe, on behalf of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), has expressed his condolences to Keita’s family, the Fédération Malienne de Football, his friends, and colleagues.

In 1972, Salif Keita was a member of the National Team of Mali, which finished as the runner-up in the CAF Africa Cup of Nations.

Leave a comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Articles

Match officials appointed for FIFA U-17 World Cup Qatar 2025

Zurich: The FIFA Referees Committee has announced the match officials who will...

Qatar’s national table tennis champions shine at the WTT Youth Contender – Amman Table Tennis Championship

Amman: Qatar national table tennis team demonstrated their strong presence in the...

Applications now open for FIFA World Cup 26 volunteer programme

Zurich: FIFA today launched the application process for the FIFA World Cup...

Son Heung-min joins LAFC in record £20m MLS move after decade at Spurs

Son Heung-min has admitted that joining Los Angeles FC was not his...