Nicknamed “the Black Panther”, Salif Keita died on Saturday September 2 at the age of 76 and took with him a superb career, including three French championship titles with AS Saint-Etienne.
Malian Salif Keita, former glory of African football who played in Saint-Étienne and Marseille in the 1970s, died on Saturday at the age of 76, announced the Malian Minister for Sports. Born in Bamako on December 12, 1946, he died in the Malian capital, said Abdoul Kassim Ibrahim Fomba. Mr. Keïta “died this (Saturday) morning in a private hospital in Bamako. His family is in consultation to fix the day and time of the burial”, declared a Malian football official, Salaha Baby.
The first African Golden Ball, Salif KEITA Domingo bowed out. The world of sports #Mali and particularly that of football wishes to express its condolences to the family of Salif Keïta but also to the Malian nation… (…) pic.twitter.com/NQrGTuzsKr
— FEMAFOOT (@femafoot) September 2, 2023
The ex-attacker had been Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister in charge of private initiative in the Malian transitional government (1991-1992). He also led the Malian Football Federation (FEMAFOOT) in the 2000s. FEMAFOOT also paid tribute to him. “Salif KEITA Domingo has bowed out. The world of sport in #Mali and particularly that of football wishes to send its condolences to the family of Salif Keïta but also to the Malian nation”, she wrote on her account X (formerly Twitter).
“The Black Panther”
“The Black Panther has gone, taking with it a piece of our club”, also soberly indicated on X ASSE whose emblem Keita had inspired. The first winner of the African Ballon d’Or in 1970, Salif Keita began his career in Mali, at Real Bamako then at the Stade Malien before arriving in Saint-Etienne in 1967 at the age of 23. With the Greens, he was champion of France three times (1968, 1969, 1970) and twice winner of the Coupe de France (1968, 1970) before leaving for Marseille in 1972.
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He then played in Valencia (Spain), at Sporting Portugal before ending his career in the United States, in Boston. He also starred in the film “Le Ballon d’Or”, freely inspired by his story. Nicknamed “Domingo” by his friends in reference to a name seen on the credits of a cinema poster when he was ten years old, Salif Keita, a slender, feline-looking player with an unparalleled technique and with a keen eye for goal, was one of the greatest strikers of his generation. He died the day AS Saint-Etienne was to pay tribute to another club legend, George Bereta, who died at the start of the summer, during the Ligue 2 match ASSE-Valenciennes.
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