Sylla nominated sports ambassador |17 August 2023

Youth and Sports principal secretary Ralph Jean-Louis and NSC chief executive Marc Arissol in a souvenir photo with new sports ambassador Abdel Sylla (Photo: Contributed)

Seychelles professional basketball player Adbel Sylla has been nominated as the country's sport ambassador, a position he is expected to take up soon after details encompassing duties and responsibilities of the role are finalised.

The sports department together with the National Sports Council (NSC) presented the player with symbolic certification for the ambassadorship last week and the ceremony took place at the NSC headquarters in the presence of principal secretary for Youth and Sports Ralph Jean-Louis and NSC chief executive Marc Arissol.

A sportswoman with comparable credentials for the purpose of gender balance will be named soon and their mandate is supposed to be for a two-year period.

Sylla has been a professional basketball player for most of his adult life, and he currently plays for Hermine Nantes of the LNB Pro B in France.

He joined Hermine Nantes in 2019 and averaged 5.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. He first went to France in 2007 a mere 17-year-old, when he signed for PRO A's SLUC Nancy, a uniform he wore for six years up until 2013.

He then switched to another PRO A side, Pau-Lacq-Orthez, before moving to Orleans in 2015.

Commonly known as the Seychelles first born and bred basketball professional, Sylla stayed in Orleans for two years, before signing for PRO A teams Monaco, then Bourg-en-Bresse, during the 2017-18 campaign.

He was the linchpin in the country’s success at the Indian Ocean Island Games (IOIG) in 2011, the only time the men’s national team has won the event.

Contributed