A self-proclaimed marabout, or traditional healer, who collected €33,500 by promising Mali’s national football team victory in the Africa Cup of Nations has been arrested for fraud following the team’s defeat.
Mali was knocked out of the tournament on Friday after losing 1-0 to Senegal in the quarter-finals.
The man, identified only as Mr. Sinayogo, reportedly received over 22 million CFA francs in donations, according to an associate.
After the loss, an angry crowd reportedly gathered at his home until police intervened and took him into custody.
Sinayogo was arrested in Bamako on Saturday on charges of fraud and was being held at the cybercrime division, according to two videographers who visited him.
“Charlatanism is punishable under Malian law,” a division official told AFP, adding that arresting him during the competition would have been difficult “in the heat of the Africa Cup of Nations.”
Previously known as a political activist, Sinayogo “suddenly declared himself a marabout and amassed a fortune,” said a social media content creator familiar with him.