Sports
The most popular sport in Mali is football (soccer), which became more prominent after Mali hosted the 2002 African Cup of Nations. Most towns have regular games; the most popular teams nationally are Djoliba AC, Stade Malien, and Real Bamako, all based in the capital. Informal games are often played by youths using a bundle of rags as a ball.
The country has produced notable players for French teams, including Salif Keita and Jean Tigana. Frédéric "Fredi" Kanouté, named 2007 African Footballer of the Year, currently plays for Beijing Guoan in the Chinese Super League whilst previously playing for Sevilla FC in Spain's La Liga. Mahamadou Diarra, the captain of the Mali national team, played for Real Madrid for four seasons before moving to AS Monaco FC and then Fulham. Seydou Keita played for FC Barcelona for four seasons before joing Kanouté in the CSL with Dalian Aerbin. Other notable players currently on European squads include, Mamady Sidibe (Stoke City), Mohammed Sissoko (Paris Saint-Germain), Adama Coulibaly (AJ Auxerre), Jimmy Kebe (Reading F.C.), Dramane Traoré (Metalurh Donetsk), Garra Dembélé (SC Freiburg), and others.
Basketball is another major sport; the Mali women's national basketball team, led by Hamchetou Maiga, competed at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Traditional wrestling (la lutte) is also somewhat common, though popularity has declined in recent years. The game wari, a mancala variant, is a common pastime.
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Famous quotes containing the word sports:
“There be some sports are painful, and their labor
Delight in them sets off. Some kinds of baseness
Are nobly undergone, and most poor matters
Point to rich ends.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“It is usual for a Man who loves Country Sports to preserve the Game in his own Grounds, and divert himself upon those that belong to his Neighbour.”
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719)
“In the past, it seemed to make sense for a sportswriter on sabbatical from the playpen to attend the quadrennial hawgkilling when Presidential candidates are chosen, to observe and report upon politicians at play. After all, national conventions are games of a sort, and sports offers few spectacles richer in low comedy.”
—Walter Wellesley (Red)