Manchester United star Andre Onana has clinched the FIFPRO Player Impact Award for his incredible charity work in Africa.
The Cameroon international’s Andre Onana Foundation has helped to provide free healthcare and surgeries across the African continent.
Over 1,200 surgeries have been performed by medical professionals working with the Andre Onana Foundation over the last three years.
FIFPRO, the global union for professional footballers, has donated $10,000 (£7,900) to Onana’s charity after he won the Player Impact Award and the goalkeeper has vowed to continue with his remarkable humanitarian work.
‘I want to thank FIFPRO and the Cameroonian player union Synafoc; this big donation is very welcome,’ Onana said.
‘Our team already have plans in place to do some nice things for the kids, hopefully in cooperation with UNICEF.
‘As for the future of the Andre Onana Foundation, we have a lot of things ahead. We’re in conversation with the United Nations to do a collaboration and our main priority going forward is to impact as many people as we can in the world.’
Onana, 28, is the second United player to scoop the award in recent years after Marcus Rashford won it in 2020 for his charity work to help disadvantaged school children in the United Kingdom.
Onana’s charity originally focused on helping blind children in Cameroon but the Foundation has since expanded to offer support to other age groups and additional countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
‘When I passed through Barcelona, Amsterdam and Milan on my way to Manchester United, I had people who helped me on that journey,’ Onana added.
‘When I was down, they gave me a hand so that I could stand up. I’ve never forgotten the help I received. Because of the people in the past who supported me, I feel I have a responsibility to give back and help others.
‘When I started the Andre Onana Foundation, the idea was to help blind children in Cameroon. We received a lot of support and it’s since grown to become an NGO that provides free medical care and surgeries to children and adults from underprivileged communities.
‘We bring doctors and surgeons, mostly from Spain, to perform the procedures in Africa. In July this year, we had our fourth surgical campaign where a delegation of Spanish health professionals – from nurses to paediatric surgeons – helped over 350 people in Yaoundé, Cameroon’s capital.’