In video from an unreleased interview, Sadio Mane disclosed that his mother and uncle had wanted him to wed a fourteen-year-old girl.
The former Liverpool player wed Aisha Tamba, his 19-year-old lover, last week in a Senegalese ceremony.
The wedding is thought to have happened on January 7 in Keur Massar, a neighborhood of Dakar’s capital, just six days before the Africa Cup of Nations got underway on January 13.
Reports state It is unclear how long Aisha and the 31-year-old football player had been dating, although she “was long intended for the player since her teenage years.” In Senegal, sixteen is the legal age of consent.
Pulse Sports further revealed that Mane had paid her bills while she was enrolled in school.
Sadio Mane has married his ’19-year-old long-time girlfriend’ Aisha Tamba
The wedding took place in a private ceremony in his home country of Senegal on January 7
The couple holding hands and smiling with a floral background behind them
Since then, footage from a 2019 interview with Orange Senegal has surfaced, in which Mane was asked a number of topics, one of which concerned marriage.
The forward disclosed that he had turned down his mother and uncle’s proposal to wed a fourteen-year-old girl.
Mane stated in the interview, “No, in fact I wanted to get married, but you know that marriage is a bit complicated.”
“Getting married is something I would have liked to do, but parents are complicated, too,” the author says.
One day, as is customary in the countryside, my mother and uncle wanted me to wed a 14-year-old girl.
‘[Calling to someone off camera] Idy, it was 14 right? She will probably turn 15 this year, but I had declined.
“But don’t worry, I’ll get married right away if I respect my soul mate.”
Mane previously revealed in a 2019 interview that he has refused a suggestion from his mum and uncle to marry a 14-year-old girl
Mane announced his union with 19-year-old Aisha on social media, posting pictures from their nuptials.
In the pictures, Mane and his spouse—the daughter of an architect—are shown holding hands and posing following the wedding. She was raised in the Casamance region of Senegal.
In one picture, the words “Mrs. Mane” are written on the wall while the couple sits beneath a bouquet of roses.
The two appeared to be happy and content as they sat together on a sofa after their wedding in a video that @abdullahayofel uploaded to X (previously Twitter).
“A very simple and humble man, congratulations Sadio Mane,” read the caption. May Allah reward your marriage.
Aisha is shown in the wedding pictures sporting a long-sleeved, silky veil and an elaborate, fitting, lacey dress reminiscent of a mermaid.
A second ensemble, seen in other pictures, consists of a silk white top and skirt set that she accessorized with a large gold necklace and earrings. The bride’s hands are also hennaed.
In the photos, Mane is seen donning traditional Senegalese attire.
Mane has not made any relationships public when he was at Liverpool.
Reports claim Aisha ‘was long intended for the 31-year-old footballer since her teenage years’
Sadio Mane kisses the hand of his new bride in a wedding photoshoot
The footballer is seen affectionately fixing his bride’s veil in the wedding photos
He had, however, already said in 2022 what kind of person he would marry.
“I apologize; you might be wasting your time, but I see a lot of girls asking me why I am not married.” “The woman I marry will not be on social media,” Mane reportedly declared, as reported by Tribune.
“I want to wed a godly woman who practices effective prayer.” Everybody chooses to express their love in a unique way,’ Mane continued.
Aisha was 16 when the football player first noticed her, but he didn’t formally approach her at the time, according to Sports Brief.
But he supposedly told his uncle, who was the family friend, about his plans, and that’s how they ended up getting married.
“The whole national team, including me, we asked him [Sadio] all the time: ‘When are you going to get married?” recalled Senegal coach Aliou Cissé.
Aisha was born in the town of Casamance, which is adjacent to Bambali, the community from which Mane hails and to which he has given funds to construct a hospital.
Additionally, he has given money for a school, a mosque, a gas station, and educational supplies to youngsters in his neighborhood, according to the Bayo News Network.
He transformed his village by spending almost £700,000 on new buildings.
He paid a visit to the £455,000 hospital that serves 34 nearby villages in 2022, which he had funded the year before.
The charitable football player was captured on camera launching a brand-new gas station. He has also constructed a £250,000 public secondary school in the community.
Mane has joined up with his Senegal team-mates as they bid to defend their AFCON title
He offered €400 to the top-achieving Bambali High School pupils and gave each household in the village a monthly support package worth €70.
Aisha is claimed to be a student at the Cabis School in Grand Mbao Baobab, Senegal, according to Essentially Sports.
According to reports, she speaks Mandingo, a language that her new spouse also speaks and that is spoken in some areas of Senegal and The Gambia.
Aisha is not on social media and is said to be focused on her education while Mane launches the Africa Cup of Nations in an effort to help Senegal win the championship.