Ballon d'Or 2022: Sadio Mane's acceptance speech was so heartwarming

Sadio Mane won the very first Socrates award at the 2022 Ballon d’Or.

The brand-new prize, as stated in France Football magazine, is given in recognition of the “best social initiatives carried out by committed champions”, adding a humanitarian aspect to the Ballon d’Or ceremony.

The accolade is named after the late Brazilian legend Socrates, who co-founded the Corinthians Democracy movement in opposition to the ruling military government in 1980s Brazil.

Mane has been in scintillating form on the football pitch across the past year, so much so that he scooped second place in the Ballon d'Or.

However, it's his impact off the pitch which is having the most profound effect.

As reported by The Liverpool Echo, Mane has transformed his home village of Bambali to the point where it is now nearly a town.

The village, which has an estimated population of 2,000 inhabitants, was lacking any real infrastructure before Mane invested in the area.

Sadio Mané pictured winning the first ever Socrates Award. It is awarded to players on their efforts in helping tackling social issues. Congratulations to him. A great player, a great human being. pic.twitter.com/RE77zuzt6n

Now, the Senegalese star has built a public hospital and maternity unit at the expense of £455,000.

The inclusion of a maternity unit is particularly important, with the mortality rate in Senegal extremely high at 315 deaths per 100,000 births. That's nearly 30x higher compared to the UK, who have 13.4 per 100,000.

Mane has also spent £250,000 on funding a free to attend secondary school in the area and provided laptops for the best performing students, as an added incentive to try their hardest.

A petrol station has been built, a post office is under