Demba Ba

Ba was born in Sèvres, Hauts-de-Seine and is the sixth child of seven. He grew up in Saint-Valery-en-Caux, Seine-Maritime. He joined the youth section of ES Mont-Gaillard, located in Le Havre, in 1992, before playing for Port Autonome between 1999 and 2000, and then for Frileuse between 2000 and 2001. In 2001, Ba returned to Châtillon and played for Montrouge. He played there until 2004, at which point he decided to concentrate on his football. Later that year, after unsuccessful trials at Lyon and Auxerre, Ba moved to the United Kingdom to seek a professional contract. He was recommended to Watford manager Ray Lewington through his friend Gauthier Diafutua, then a Watford player, but released shortly after Lewington's dismissal. Ba then spent a week on trial at Barnsley, and returned to France after two more unsuccessful trials at Football League sides Swansea City and Gillingham.

Rouen

Ba signed with manager Alain Michel because they were both moving to French club Rouen on a one-year contract, and Ba enjoyed a highly successful season with the club.

Mouscron

Belgian club Mouscron beat off competition from numerous other clubs to win Ba's signature in 2006. Scoring in each of his first three games, he then picked up fractures in his tibia and fibula, and was out of action between August 2006 and April 2007. Following his eight-month recovery period he scored seven goals in nine games, and picked up his first international cap.

TSG Hoffenheim

On 29 August 2007, Ba moved to 2. Bundesliga side TSG Hoffenheim for €3 million. Ba was an integral part of Hoffenheim's promotion to the Bundesliga and their successful first season in the Bundesliga, where they finished seventh after leading during the Christmas break. In that season he scored 14 goals, only missing one game all season. These goals included a hat-trick in a 3–3 game against Stuttgart on 24 February 2009. In all competitions Ba scored 40 goals in 103 appearances for TSG Hoffenheim. In July 2009, he was due to move to VfB Stuttgart, but the move fell through after he failed a medical. In December of that year Ba extended his contract at Hoffenheim to 2013.

Move to England

Ba left Hoffenheim for disputed reasons in January 2011. Claiming the club had gone back on an agreed transfer to a Premier League club, believed to be West Ham United, he refused to…

Ba played a total of 22 games and scored three goals for Senegal.

Ba is a practising Muslim. In 2013, He refused, like Papiss Cissé, Hatem Ben Arfa and Cheick Tioté, to wear Newcastle United's new sponsor Wonga.com's name on their shirts because it is a payday loan firm. He observes fasting during the Islamic month of Ramadan, along with celebrating his goals by performing the Sujud by bowing towards Mecca.

In 2014, when he played for Chelsea, Ba put his jersey up for sale at auction for financing the Collective against Islamophobia in France (CCIF). He declared after the Charlie Hebdo shooting: What happened in France ... I am a Muslim, and what happened is not Islam. I would have worn a black jersey in tribute to the victims and families. But to wear the inscription "Je suis Charlie", I would not have done it. In 2017, Ba brought with Nicolas Anelka funding to an association created by Kémi Séba, a Pan-Africanist and anti-colonial activist with several convictions for anti-Semitism. In August 2020, Ba called on football to condemn China's treatment of Uyghurs. On 26 June 2017, Ba co-founded with Eden Hazard, Yohan Cabaye and Moussa Sow an expansion North American Soccer League franchise, San Diego 1904 FC, to begin playing in 2018. In 2021, San Diego 1904 FC merged with Albion San Diego, which made Ba the head owner of the newly merged team.