Sékou Koïta (born 28 November 1999) is a Malian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a forward for

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

club

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...

and the Mali national team.

Club career

On 8 January 2018, Koïta moved to Wolfsberger AC on loan from Red Bull Salzburg. On 18 December 2019, Koïta extended his contract with Red Bull Salzburg until the summer of 2024. On 18 February 2021, Koïta was suspended for three months of all club and international football activities by

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

, following a doping investigation conducted by

on which Koïta tested positive. Koita was prescribed medicine to combat altitude sickness that contained a substance on the banned list. In its verdict, UEFA ruled that in this case there was no intentional violation of doping rules, but the rules stipulate that every player is personally responsible for ensuring that no banned substances enter their body. On 8 July 2024, Koïta signed a three-year contract with

in the

International career

Sékou Koïta won the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

with the Mali Under-17 team. He scored two goals in this tournament. The Malian selection scores a total of ten goals, and finishes the competition by being undefeated. This is the very first time Mali has won an African championship title. Sékou Koïta subsequently participates in the

2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the sixteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, held in Chile from 17 October to 8 November 2015. Host selection The following four countries bid to host the tournament: * * * * Venues Along with proposing ...

held in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. In the world, he plays seven games, scoring two goals. He scored a goal in the quarterfinals against

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, which proved to be the only goal of the match. He then scored a goal against

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

in the semi-final (victory 3-1). Mali is bowing in the final against

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

with two goals to zero. In 2016, Sékou Koïta competes with

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

for the

African Nations Championship The African Nations Championship, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies African Nations Championship and commonly abbreviated as CHAN, is a biennial African association football tournament organized by the Confederation of Afri ...

held in

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

. His presence in this competition was due to the N'Tji Samaké package, in which doctors diagnosed a heart condition the day before the competition. He plays six games in this tournament, scoring a goal against

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

in the first round. Mali reached the final of the competition, being defeated by the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. With those under 20 years of age, he participated twice in the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations, in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

and then in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

. In the 2017 edition in

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

, he plays three games, scoring a goal against

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

. With an unfortunate record of one draw, two losses and nine goals cashed, Mali does not exceed the first round of the tournament. In the 2019 edition held in

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

, he plays five games. Mali won the competition this time, beating

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

in the final, after a shoot-out at the goal. He is then among the 23 players selected to compete in the

2019 Africa Cup of Nations The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2019 or CAN 2019), known as the Total SE, Total 2019 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 32nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's associati ...

held in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. In this tournament, he plays only one match against

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

. Mali is entering the eighth final against

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Mali score listed first, score column indicates score after each Koïta goal.''

Honours

Red Bull Salzburg *

Austrian Bundesliga The Bundesliga ( , "Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Austria and the highest level of the Austrian football league system. The competition decides the A ...

: 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23 *

Austrian Cup The Austrian Cup (), known as UNIQA ÖFB Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual football competition held by the Austrian Football Association, the ÖFB. During the 2008–09 season, Austria Wien won the tournament for a record 27th time. Wo ...

: 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22 CSKA Moscow * Russian Cup: 2024–25 Mali U17 *

FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the annual world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fé ...

runner-up:

Mali U20 * Africa U-20 Cup of Nations:

Mali *

runner-up:

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Koita, Sekou 1999 births Living people People from Kita, Mali Sportspeople from Kayes Region Men's association football forwards Mali men's international footballers Malian men's footballers 2014 African Nations Championship players FC Liefering players Wolfsberger AC players FC Red Bull Salzburg players PFC CSKA Moscow players 2. Liga (Austria) players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Russian Premier League players Malian expatriate men's footballers Malian expatriate sportspeople in Austria Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Malian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Russia 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players 2023 Africa Cup of Nations players Mali men's youth international footballers Mali men's under-20 international footballers Mali men's A' international footballers