Rufisque, Oct 13 (APS) – The Génération Foot Academy has named the conference room of its Djibril Diagne stadium in Déni Birame Ndao (Rufisque), in the name of the late Mamadou Salif Dialo, journalist from the Senegalese Press Agency ( APS), to pay tribute to an “outstanding and distinguished” professional, declared its founding president, Mady Touré, on Saturday.
”Three words define this tribute: humility, personality and integrity. Salif was an outstanding and distinguished journalist. He was able to fill a lot of things,” he testified in a voice full of emotion.
He spoke during the baptism ceremony, in the presence of members of the deceased’s family, relatives and several journalists including the former director general of the Senegalese Press Agency (APS), Mamadou Koumé.
Mamadou Salif Diallo, former head of the sports department of the Senegalese Press Agency, died in Dakar on October 31, 2022, at the age of 53.
”Speaking of Salif, I am moved. I am often in an uncontrollable mood, but it was during these difficult times that he would say things to my face and I would back down. I can’t forget it,” underlined the founding president of the Génération Foot academy.
”We are all here for one reason. I don’t have the words to thank Salif,” he added, before symbolically inviting Mrs. Diallo Boury Sock, Salif’s wife, to inaugurate the room.
Journalist Mamadou Koumé, and former director general of APS, praised the professional and human qualities of the former sports journalist.
“Salif deserves to have his legacy perpetuated, because wherever he went, whether at Nouvelle Horizon first, then at APS, he demonstrated great professional and human qualities,” he said. he argued.
”If football arouses a certain passion in Senegal, I believe that we owe it a lot to Salif Diallo”, for his part underlined, the Director of Information of the SN-APS, Amadou Samba Gaye.
“Beyond football,” he added, “Salif devoted a lot of time and energy to other disciplines that he helped to popularize.”
The baptism ceremony ended with the organization of a gala match which pitted the team of the National Association of the Senegalese Sports Press against that of the Génération Foot staff, at the Déni Birame Ndao stadium.
During his professional career, Mamadou Salif Diallo participated in the media coverage of many major global and African sporting events, such as the Football World Cup, the African Cup of Nations and the Olympic Games.
A graduate of the Center for the Study of Information Sciences and Techniques (CESTI), Mamadou Salif Diallo, worked at the weekly Nouvel Horizon and the Sud Communication group, before joining the APS in January 2001.
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