BAMAKO (Reuters) – Malian forward Salif Keita, the winner of the first African Footballer of the Year award in 1970 and one of the continent’s sporting legends, died in Bamako on Saturday at the age of 76, the country’s football federation said.
Keita enjoyed a long career in France at St Etienne and Olympique de Marseille and also played for Valencia in Spain and Sporting Lisbon before finishing his career in the North American Soccer League.
He debuted for Mali aged 16 and later helped them reach the final of the 1972 Africa Cup of Nations.
From 2005 to 2009 Keita served as president of the Mali Football Federation.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
