Bacary Sagna Donates World Cup Bonuses

By Parvez Fatteh, TMO, Founder of http://sportingummah.com, sports@muslimobserver.com

Arsenal defender Bacary Sagna has declared his intention to donate his €100,000 bonus earned from the disappointing French 2010 World Cup campaign to football clubs in France and Senegal – his ancestral homeland, according to the newspaper France Football.

The 28-year-old former Auxerre player has earmarked two teams from Yonne (a French department) – Saint-Florentin and Franco-Maghrébins de Sens; and another from Paris – Bernard Diomède Academy, to receive part of the donation. The remainder will be offered to two Senegalese clubs to be named later, the French paper said.

France had a horrendous tournament in South Africa and crashed out in the group stages amid player revolt against coach Raymond Domenech, and public feuds. Sagna was born in Bourgogne, France to Senegalese parents. He began his international career with the French Under-21 team in 2004, before making it to the senior team three years later.

A source at the Senegal Football Federation told the website Goal.com that the gesture will encourage other foreign players of African descent to “look back to where they hail from and give a helping hand to those in need.”

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