Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira has won a Best of Africa award for his impact on football.
Vieira collected a Lifetime Achievement award at an event in central London, the first Best of Africa awards ceremony for three years.
The manager was born in Senegal in 1976 and moved to France as a child in the 1980s. In 2003 he helped to found Diambars, a football academy educating and coaching promising young Senegalese footballers.
The Best of Africa awards celebrate the inspiring philanthropic work of those of African heritage and brings together sporting greats and leaders across business, entertainment and education with philanthropists.
Other award recipients this year include boxer Anthony Joshua, Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, and musician Kano, with Wilfried Zaha collecting one in 2019 for philanthropic endeavour. The Palace talisman even presented Vieira with his award on Sunday.
Founded by Francis Nkwain in 2011, Best of Africa celebrated its 10th awards ceremony this year. Nkwain said: “BoA was nothing but a seed when we launched and little did we know that that seed would become a call to action.
“We believed then and still do today that our focus on building our foundation in sports and entertainment was as appropriate as these well-intentioned women and men with names and faces of repute could help paint a slightly better picture of an otherwise challenging world and brand of Africa.”
Previous awardees and keynote speakers have included footballers Yaya Touré, Rio Ferdinand and Rachel Yankey. Musicians Stormzy, Fuse ODG and Yolanda Brown and business figures Lord Herman Ouseley and Baroness Amos and more.
