Salif Keita (footballer)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Salif Keïta (born December 12, 1946 in Bamako) is a former Malian football player.
In 1963, at the age of 16, Keïta was selected to play on the national team, the Eagles of Mali, in the African Nations Cup. He played for AS Real de Bamako where he was three times named champion of Mali.
In 1967, Keïta left for France to join AS Saint-Étienne, where he gained three titles of champion of France. Considering himself exploited, however, he left Saint-Etienne for Olympique de Marseille. After they tried to force him to assume French nationality, however, he left for Valencia CF and then finished his career in the United States.
In 1970, Keïta won the Ballon d'or Africain. In 1994, he created the first training center for professional football players in Mali, which bears his name.
The Guinean director Cheik Doukouré took the life of Salif Keita as a starting point for his 1998 film Le Ballon d'or.
In June 2005, Salif Keita was elected president of the Malian Federation of football (FEMAFOOT) for a term of four years.
