Steve Mandanda wins 2026 Sportel autobiography award

Steve Mandanda is set to receive the 2026 Sportel Awards autobiography prize for his book The Days After.

The former France goalkeeper will collect the honour on October 19 during a ceremony at Monaco’s Grimaldi Forum.

Mandanda retired on September 10, 2025, aged 40, after a distinguished 25-year career. Known as “El Phenomeno” by Marseille supporters, he spent 14 seasons with Olympique Marseille before playing for Crystal Palace and finishing his career at Stade Rennais.

The goalkeeper also represented France 35 times between 2008 and 2022 and was part of the squad that won the 2018 World Cup. However, his book focuses less on familiar sporting achievements and more on the difficult transition that followed retirement.

Written as a diary beginning when he announced his decision to stop playing, The Days After explores Mandanda’s doubts, lost routines and efforts to rebuild his identity away from professional football.

Sportel Awards executive director Marine Picoulet said: “With The Days After, Steve Mandanda gives us much more than the story of a remarkable career. He opens the door to an intimate, rarely discussed period, when an athlete must learn to reinvent himself.”

Mandanda joins previous winners including Mike Tyson, Dan Carter and Marie-Jose Perec.