REPORT :Togolese Footballer, Francis Koné, Won The FIFA Fair Play Award For Saving The Life Of Another Player

Although we were seriously rooting for him , South African goalkeeper, Oscarine Masuluke, didn’t win the FIFA Puskás Award. However, Africa didn’t entirely lose out in the glamour of the award night because Togolese player,Francis Koné, was honoured for an even bigger and better cause – and that’s saving the life of another player on the pitch!

During a Czech First League match in February, Bohemians 1905 goalkeeper, Martin Berkovec, was knocked unconscious and nearly swallowed his tongue. But Koné, who plays for Slovácko, was quick enough to move Berkovec's tongue with his fingers, thereby stopping the goalkeeper from suffocating.

In an interview with Idnes, Koné revealed that it was the fourth time he saved a player’s life by pulling out their tongue as he had done it twice in Africa and once in Thailand! And it was the experience from the previous incidents that made him act quickly to check if the goalkeeper had swallowed his tongue.

At the Best FIFA Football Award on Monday night,kone' was given a Fair Play Award, making him the true hero of the night. Although he doesn’t see himself as a hero, the world isn’t in the dark about his heroic actions. He told FIFA:

“It feels like I’m a star. I get recognised in the street, asked for my autograph and for photos. I’ve been invited to dinners and I’ve been given awards, though I have to say that what I did on the pitch just seems normal to me.”