Éduoard becomes The Best

In 2021, the sports world was starting to fully re-open after the Covid pandemic shut everything down for most of 2020. Fans were starting to return to stadiums in bigger numbers, and the action on the field continued to increase. What most people didn’t know is that 2021 was set to be Éduoard Mendy’s year.

In his first year with Chelsea FC, Mendy had supplanted Kepa Arrizabalaga as the starting goalkeeper on a team that was attempting to compete for the Champions League title as well as the Premier League title. However, the calendar year of 2021 started out rocky, with Chelsea losing a few games and their coach Frank Lampard being fired. The next day, Thomas Tuchel was hired, and a switch turned on for Mendy and Chelsea, at least in Champions League.

Mendy also went on a tear, rattling off 6 clean sheets in a row as Chelsea tried to fight back up the standings in the Premier League and continued to advance in the Champions League. After shutting out Real Madrid in the 2nd leg of the Champions League semifinal, Chelsea advanced to the Champions League final against Premier League rivals Manchester City. There, Mendy did what he does best: with yet another clean sheet as Chelsea lifted its second Champions League trophy.

He didn’t stop there as the 2021-22 season began, continuing to dominate for Chelsea between the posts as the full-time starter and for Senegal as they prepared for the postponed Africa Cup of Nations. He had 29 clean sheets across all competitions for club and country in 2021. For his efforts in 2021, Éduoard Mendy was named The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper at their ceremony on January 17, 2022. He became the first African goalkeeper to win the prestigious award.

One would forgive Mendy for celebrating his historic accomplishment. But, when he received word that he had won FIFA’s The Best award, he was in the middle of the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal, a team that was a favorite to win the tournament. The next morning, he did what few would do: held another clean sheet as Senegal drew Malawi. A little over 2 weeks later, Mendy and Senegal competed in the Africa Cup of Nations final against Egypt. Mendy kept Senegal in it by holding Egypt scoreless through 120 minutes of action. With the match scoreless heading to penalties to decide it, Mendy stopped 2 of them to help Senegal clinch its 1st AFCON title. Mendy was named the tournament’s best goalkeeper for having 4 clean sheets during Senegal’s run to the title.

Did he stop there? Nope. He immediately flew to Abu Dhabi, where his Chelsea squad was competing in the FIFA Club World Cup. He arrived in time to see his team win the semifinal to advance to the final against Palmeiras. 3 days later, he was back in goal, helping Chelsea lift the Club World Cup trophy after a 2-1 extra time win.

Three weeks, 4 major trophies. Éduoard Mendy was on top of the world, and continues to be one of the world’s great goalkeepers. But, he’s the first from Africa to have a simple title:

The Best.

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For more Black History Month stories, check out our Black History Month hub. We will be bringing stories throughout the month to highlight some of the biggest moments in Black American and world soccer history.

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In the spirit of the Arusha Declaration and the Porto Alegre Declaration we have come together in Dakar from all corners of the world to face a world in crisis under the theme of African Economic and Monetary Sovereignty.

We are a group of scholars, policy-makers, and activists from Africa, Asia, Europe and North America, some of us economists, others political scientists, historians, sociologists and anthropologists. We address this declaration to African governments, African institutions and external actors and agencies that constrain Africa’s economic and monetary sovereignty.

Our existing international economic order is at the heart of the contemporary crises. The Global South suffers disproportionately from these multiple crises. Africa’s adverse incorporation into the capitalist order is the problem. We are integral to the system which could not thrive without our exploitation. We dissent from the dominant paradigm in economics which conceptualizes the economy in almost quasi-natural terms and describes a benign world devoid of unequal power relations.

Our global crises are multifaceted: climate breakdown, biodiversity depletion, pollution, speculative finance, war, and rampant inequalities. There is a general crisis of the neoliberal capitalist order with a turn to a resistant form of imperialism. Geopolitical turmoil is a dangerous symptom of both.

We do not accept this set of crises but confront and seek alternatives to it in solidarity with workers, the landless, peasants, women, climate activists and similar groups. For these reasons, we launch the Dakar Declaration with the aim of initiating lasting and trusting cooperation with initiatives and movements that share Share A unit of ownership interest in a corporation or financial asset, representing one part of the total capital stock. Its owner (a shareholder) is entitled to receive an equal distribution of any profits distributed (a dividend) and to attend shareholder meetings.
its spirit.

Ten strategic aims serve as our yardstick for action:

1. Most of our governments will not implement the transformations we need. We need to become the masses that always push for more.
2. Yet, we need strong states, democratic and responsible states. But even more than that, we need stronger peoples to defend those states and push them to always do more for the majority. African states can and should mobilize African labor and resources to meet Africa’s own needs, resuscitating the developmental ambitions of the early post- independence period.
3. With a world breaking apart into more regional trade blocs, building regional alliances becomes necessary and possible. The reassertion of our economic and monetary sovereignty and the subjection of foreign interests to our internal needs and interests becomes easier. This growth in policy sovereignty to structurally transform our economies and societies can enable us to fundamentally tackle long standing issues of poverty, social development, and democratization.
4. We must work to build a new multilateralism where global policy fora and institutions are inclusive, democratic, and reflective of the concerns of the Global South’s populations.
5. Militarism and imperialism cannot continue to politically mould the world system. We defend a positive neutralism with respect to the historic colonial-imperial bloc, and non-cooperation with their interference in African affairs.
6. Global inequalities arising from ecological breakdown and exposure to volatilities in finance and commodity prices put the Global South at a particular disadvantage which we need to overcome.
7. Recurrent debt crises have to end. We need to develop a global approach to correct the harmful impact of excessive foreign currency debt — including that issued by the IMF IMF
   International Monetary Fund Along with the World Bank, the IMF was founded on the day the Bretton Woods Agreements were signed. Its first mission was to support the new system of standard exchange rates.

   When the Bretton Wood fixed rates system came to an end in 1971, the main function of the IMF became that of being both policeman and fireman for global capital: it acts as policeman when it enforces its Structural Adjustment Policies and as fireman when it steps in to help out governments in risk of defaulting on debt repayments.

   As for the World Bank, a weighted voting system operates: depending on the amount paid as contribution by each member state. 85% of the votes is required to modify the IMF Charter (which means that the USA with 17,68% % of the votes has a de facto veto on any change).

   The institution is dominated by five countries: the United States (16,74%), Japan (6,23%), Germany (5,81%), France (4,29%) and the UK (4,29%).
   The other 183 member countries are divided into groups led by one country. The most important one (6,57% of the votes) is led by Belgium. The least important group of countries (1,55% of the votes) is led by Gabon and brings together African countries.

   http://imf.org

   
   — and odious debts. Widespread, deep, and swift debt write-downs are essential. They must be focused on supporting economic transformation.

8. We need to stop the ongoing theft of wealth, committed by transnational corporations (TNCs), which flows into the Global North when TNCs transfer their earnings in tax havens and then invest them in financial markets, all this clothed in the harmless language of “Foreign Direct Investment”. To that end, measures such as capital controls, restrictions on tax evasion and illicit financial flows and fair taxation of TNCs must be actively promoted and implemented.
9. We have to tackle historically persistent inequalities rooted in the emergence and global expansion of the capitalist system. We also need a global reparations agenda to address in a fair manner the multifaceted ecological crisis. We must seek to elaborate this agenda technically, legitimize it, advocate it, defend it, and implement it. We support the efforts of our African American and Caribbean sisters and brothers in their specific labors for reparatory justice.
10. We act, teach, research, and mobilize in our local and national contexts, regionally and transnationally. We do these with the aim of building a lasting movement and acquire real influence in our political processes.

We are calling for a Pan-African, South-South cooperation and global solidarity for our collective cause. We invite you all to our gatherings during which we share our experiences, evaluate our progress, and plan the next steps.

The time is now!

Signatories

Charles Abugre, Ghana

Broulaye Bagayoko, Mali

C.P. Chandrasekhar, India

Demba Moussa Dembélé, Senegal

Daniela Gabor, Romania/United Kingdom

Eric Toussaint, Belgium

Nancy Kachingwe, Malawi/Zimbabwe

Jomo Kwame Sundaram, Malaysia

Ismaïla Malick Sy, Senegal

Ndongo Samba Sylla, Senegal

Lisa Tilley, United Kingdom

Souad Aden-Osman, Ethiopia

Max Ajl, Tunisia/USA

Alexandre Abreu, Portugal

Asghar Adelzadeh, South Africa/USA

Dereje Alemayehu, Ethiopia/Germany

Ikal Angelei, Kenya

Hanene Bergaoui, Tunisia/Germany

Horman Chitonge, South Africa

Carla Coburger, Germany

Caroline Cornier, Germany/France

Ndeye Fadiaw Diagne, Senegal

Dialo Diop, Senegal

Henriette Faye, Senegal

Andrew Fischer, Netherlands

Maha Ben Gadha, Tunisia

Hamza Hamouchene, Algeria/United Kingdom

Jason Hickel, United Kingdom

Nimi Hoffmann, United Kingdom/South Africa

Tetteh Hormeku, Ghana

Florian Horn, Germany/Belgium

Peter James Hudson, USA

Fadhel Kaboub, Tunisia/USA

Mary Karimu, Ghana

Rasmane Kientega, Burkina Faso

Ingrid Kvangraven, Norway/United Kingdom

Kai Koddenbrock, Germany

Imen Louati, Tunisia

Jamee Moudud, USA

Godwin Murunga, Kenya/Senegal

Fathimath Musthaq, Maldives/USA

Alvin Mosioma, Kenya

Kaba Nabe, Guinea

Redge Nkosi, South Africa

Jane Obuchi, Kenya

Franklin Obeng-Odoom, Ghana/Finland

Adebayo Olukoshi, Nigeria/South Africa

Keston Perry, Trinidad and Tobago/USA

Lebohang Liepollo Pheko, South Africa

Stefano Prato, Italy

Matthew Robinson, USA

Chafik Ben Rouine, Tunisia

Arif Rüzgar, Germany/Belgium

Ebrima Sall, Senegal

Matthias Schmelzer, Germany

Jean-Michel Servet, France

Howard Stein, USA

Crystal Simeoni, Kenya

Fiona Tregenna, South Africa

Dzodzi Tsikata, Ghana/United Kingdom

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