Rakuten TV Readies Made in Senegal Doc

Rakuten TV is set to debut its latest exclusive documentary, Made in Senegal, about the rise of the Liverpool FC star and African Player of the Year 2019, Sadio Mané.

Made in Senegal takes viewers on a journey through Mané’s humble rural beginnings in a small village in Senegal to the global spotlight of premiership football and winning the Champions League with Liverpool FC. Mané serves as the main narrator in the doc feature, which uses a mixture of scenes, archive footage and animation to bring his past to life. Made in Senegal will also enable fans to delve into Mané’s passions off the pitch, including his commitment to helping those around him. The title will be exclusively available across Europe on Rakuten TV’s free Rakuten Stories channel from April 8.

Made in Senegal is a co-production from Vertical Social Club and arena11 sports group. The agreement with Rakuten TV was initiated by Lagardère Sports, which holds the exclusive worldwide distribution rights for the content.

Mané said: “I wanted to show to the people that you can achieve anything in the world if you are ready to build on your dreams and put in hard work. I am Made in Senegal.”

Teresa López, European content director for Rakuten TV, said: “Rakuten TV is delighted to present this new documentary, as we continue building our strategy to offer exclusive and original content for free. Sports are a fantastic way for people to connect together all over the world, and Made in Senegal has such a powerful narrative, which I think audiences will love as much as we do. The film attracted our attention from the very first moment, telling a story of self-belief and determination to achieve your dreams, of all which embodies Rakuten’s key values.”

Nikolaus von Doetinchem, executive VP of global media of Lagardère Sports, said: “We’re delighted to bring Sadio Mané’s inspirational story to fans in Europe with Rakuten TV. We believe sport has the power to inspire people and we’ll continue to work with partners to distribute premium live and on-demand sports content to as many fans as possible.”