AFCON: Senegal’s president awards $87,000 to each player
Senegal’s President Macky Sall awarded the national football team cash prizes and plots of land on Tuesday following the squad’s winning the African Cup of Nations. He announced a prize of the equivalent of some $87,000 for each team member, as well as a 200 square-metre (2,100 square-foot) plot of land in Dakar, and a 500 square-metre (5,400 square-foot) plot in the nearby city of Diamniadio.
In a ceremony in the presidential palace in the capital Dakar, he also appointed team members to the West African country’s prestigious Order of the Lion, as thousands of fans cheered outside the gates.
“By your vital force and your creative genius, you have reversed the course of history,” the president said, standing on a podium beside the Cup of Nations trophy.
“We dreamed of the cup, you built this dream and you made it come true,” he added.
Senegal overcame Mohamed Salah’s Egypt 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out in Sunday’s final in Cameroon. The game had finished goalless after extra time. The victory marked Senegal’s first success after over fifty years of fielding teams in the tournament — and sparked jubilant celebrations across Dakar on Sunday.
