Salif Keita, born on December 12, 1946, died this Saturday in Bamako, announced the Malian Minister responsible for Sports, Absou Kassim Ibrahim Fomba. He “died this morning (Saturday) in a private hospital in Bamako. His family is in consultation to define the day and time of the burial”, declared a Malian football official, Salaha Baby.
The former striker was once a minister to delegate to the Prime Minister responsible for the private sector in the transitional government of Mali (1991-1992). He also led the Malian Football Federation (Femafoot) in the 2000s. They also paid tribute to him on X (formerly Twitter). “Salif Keita Domingo has given up. The world of sport in Mali and specifically football would like to send its condolences to Salif Keita's family, but also to the Malian nation,” she wrote.
First African Ballon d'Or
The first winner of the African Ballon d'Or in 1970, Salif Keita began a career in Mali, Real Bamako and then Stade Malien, before arriving at Saint-Etienne in 1967, aged 23.
With the Greens he was French champion three times (1968, 1969, 1970) AND twice winner of the French Cup (1968, 1970) before leaving for Marseille in 1972. He then played in Valencia, Spain, with Sporting Portugal, before consolidating his career in the United States, in Boston.
“The Black Panther is gone, taking with him a piece of our club”, reacted on X AS Saint-Étienne (ASSE), whose emblem Keita modernized.
🖤 The black panther is gone, taking a piece of our club with him.
Salif Keita, we mourn your passing. pic.twitter.com/SuLn9pUDET
-AS Saint-Étienne (@ASSEofficiel) September 2, 2023
Salif Keita also acted in the film “The Golden Ball”, freely inspired by his story. Nicknamed “Domingo” by his friends in reference to a name seen in the credits of a major film poster when he was ten years old, Salif Keita, a slender player, gifted with incomparable technique and a keen sense of goal, was one of the strikers of her generation.
(With AFP)
