Frederic Kanoute

At 47 years old, Frederic Kanoute has this physical status:

Frédéric Oumar Kanouté (born 2 September 1977) is a retired Malian-French professional footballer who competed for several top-tier clubs in Europe, enjoying his best success with La Liga team Sevilla.

Kanouté was named the 2007 African Footballer of the Year, the first African player to receive the award outside of Africa. Kanouté began his career with Lyon in France before moving to West Ham United of the Premier League in 2000.

Kanouté left London for a brief period with Tottenham Hotspur in order to win two consecutive UEFA Cups in 2006 and 2007, as well as other European and domestic awards, and he remains the club's highest-scoring foreign player.

Kanouté joined Beijing Goan in June 2012 after playing 16 times for France U-21. Kanouté was also a member of the Malian squad that reached the semifinals of the 2004 African Cup of Nations and was included in their picks for the tournament in 2006 and 2010.

He retired from international service in 2010 with 39 caps and 23 goals.

Early life

Kanouté was born in Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon, Rhône.

Personal life

Since being around the age of 22, he has been practicing Islam. Due to the fact that the website is used for gambling, which is in breach of Islam's principles, he refused to wear a Sevilla shirt sporting the name of club sponsor 888.com; this meant the club had to provide him with a brand-free jersey every match. Kanouté's sponsored kit, which was part of the players' employment, was to be excused from their media campaigns in exchange. Kanouté bought a mosque in Seville in 2007 for more than US$700,000.000 out of his pocket. The lease on the premises had ended, and the mosque was supposed to be sold. Following the mosque's auction, the Islamic community of Spain announced that it had requested Kanouté's assistance. Kanouté contributed to the construction of the mosque with a $1 million fundraising effort.

Kanouté says that his faith has never arisen as a result of his coaching career, teammates, or supporters. "Islam has helped me to be this way," he has said, so this is normal. It's a way you can stay calm, to encourage you to consider the city you live in, and to love your neighbor. It's strange to hear of all these terrorism issues because it's the opposite of what I expected for Islam.

During Ramadan's Islamic month, he observes fasting. "I can keep fasting in Ramadan even when playing," he has said, "it is often impossible to keep the fast because it is so hot here in the south of Spain. I'm grateful."

Kanouté took off his shirt and displayed a black shirt underneath emblazoned with the word "Palestine" after scoring a goal against Deportivo La Corua in January 2009 Copa Del Rey. By BBC accounts, the protest was seen as a protest against the Israeli Army's operation in the Gaza Strip, which was ongoing at the time. Kanouté was warned with a yellow card for broadcasting a political message and was fined around $4,000 by the league.

Kanouté has also expressed an interest in a variety of charitable causes. He started an appeal in Mali in 2006 to found a "Children's Village." This is now the well-established Sakina Children's Village. In the book, Kanouté addresses his Foundation and the Village; How to Do Well: Essays in Building a Better World, which was published in December 2016. In 2017, he participated in a speaker tour influenced by the book, visiting Oslo, Stockholm, Paris, and London alongside other humanitarians and philanthropists.

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Club career

Kanouté's talents as a striker were first noticed by his local team, Olympique Lyonnais, and he joined them as an apprentice in 1997. He made his debut in the Intertoto Cup against Polish side Odra Wodzisław.

In 2000, Kanouté was signed by English Premier League side West Ham United on an initial loan basis. He formed a solid partnership with Paolo Di Canio and after some promising appearances in the Premier League, Hammers manager Harry Redknapp made his move permanent. Kanouté had varying success at the Boleyn Ground, often praised for his ability, but also criticised for his laid back attitude. West Ham were relegated at the end of the 2002-03 season.

Kanouté was bought by Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of £3.5 million on 5 August 2003. He scored on his debut on 23 August, the winner in a 2-1 home league victory over Leeds United, nine minutes after coming on for Bobby Zamora.

His first season was interrupted by a call-up for the 2004 African Cup of Nations for Mali. Tottenham tried to stop him going by asking FIFA whether Kanouté was eligible to play for Mali after representing France at Under-20 level.

Kanouté was unable to cement himself as a regular at White Hart Lane, as Robbie Keane and Jermain Defoe were preferred. He became a less prolific goalscorer and instead was involved in attacks by setting up various goals with runs at the defence and creating space for other attacking players.

Kanouté was sold to Sevilla on 17 August 2005 for €6.5 million. He was a second-half substitute for the club in the 2006 UEFA Cup Final against Middlesbrough and scored in the 89th minute as Sevilla won 4–0.

In the 2006-07 UEFA Cup, Kanouté's first games for Sevilla against Tottenham Hotspur led to him scoring a penalty at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium in a game marred by crowd trouble, and a goal at White Hart Lane, leaving the final aggregate score 4–3 to Sevilla.

Sevilla's title challenge that year ultimately unravelled and Real Madrid took the title, with Kanouté's side in third. After that, he was a consistent member of the team, helping Sevilla qualify for a UEFA Cup position in 2008 and a Champions League direct qualification in 2009.

On the first day of the 2009–10 season, Kanouté received two yellow cards for fouls against Valencia and was sent off in first half stoppage time.

On 22 October 2011, during the 2011–12 season, Kanouté received two yellow cards against FC Barcelona for kicking the ball off the penalty spot, when Lionel Messi was due to take it. The second yellow was for an altercation between Kanouté and Cesc Fàbregas. Kanouté's farewell season in Spain was plagued with injuries as he participated in 26 matches, scoring four goals and assisting two others – he left at the end of his contract in the summer of 2012. Kanoute became an iconic figure at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, netting 136 goals in 290 matches as helped the club to win two UEFA Cups, one UEFA Super Cup, two Copa del Rey trophies and one Spanish Supercup.

On 29 June 2012, Kanouté signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with Chinese Super League side Beijing Guoan. On 18 July 2012, he scored his first two goals in his team's 6–0 victory against Qingdao Jonoon in the Chinese FA Cup. In May 2013, Kanouté scored a brace in a Super League fixture against Tianjin Teda.

International career

While playing for Lyon, Kanouté joined the French under-21 team. After turning 21 in 1998, Kanouté was not called up for the French national squad in 2000, 2002, or 2004. In 2004, FIFA changed its rules to allow a footballer to play for the national team of the country in which his mother or father was born. Although eligible for either, Kanouté elected to play for Mali rather than for France. Kanouté was joint top goal scorer for Mali at the 2004 African Cup of Nations. Kanouté scored four goals in four matches helping Mali to the semi-finals, where they lost to Morocco.

In October 2007, Kanouté, along with Mali international teammate Mamady Sidibé, were attacked by irate Togolese fans after they knocked Togo out of the African Cup of Nations qualifier. Frederic Kanoute announced his retirement from international football following Mali's elimination from the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.

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